Photograph by Pari Dukovic, Courtosey of “The New Yorker”

Critics have already started comparing “Francis Ha” to classic films such as “Breathless” and “Manhattan,” although the film is likely to end up in a film school syllabus at some point, “Francis Ha” lacks the pretentiousness of these films by tapping into the personal and relatable experiences of its characters. Francis (Greta Gerwig) is a dancer who kind of loves her craft and is kind of good at it. It seems like her true passion is personal connection and chemistry, which she shares with her best friend Sophie (Mickey Sumner). The two friends sleep, smoke and grumble together, but the friendship is disrupted when Sophie decides to move out and gradually start a new life with her boyfriend.

Francis, distraught over the loss of her friend, searches for connection through roommates, vocations and places, at one point booking a trip to Paris on a credit card she received in the mail. Finding true connections is difficult and would not be a valued aspect of life if it were otherwise. Francis ends up in situations where she is either misunderstood, or truly cherished. The film is not only a love letter to New York, but to the human circumstance. Gerwig, although beautiful, has an unconventional and relatable beauty, which creates a unique film persona. She wears the same leather jacket and leggings in almost every scene and has already accepted her awkwardness as endearing, or at least we have.

Last April “Francis Ha’s” director Noah Baumbach and Gerwig were featured in The New Yorker where they shed light on both their working (Gerwig co-wrote the film with Baumbach) and romantic relationship. Just as Gerwig’s character in “Greenberg” gave a much-needed dose of optimism to the films protagonist (Ben Stiller), it seems like she is doing the same for Baumbach, whose films typically portray individuals who are dissatisfied on a level only Woody Allen has produced. Like Allen, Baumbach has given us his Annie Hall/Diane Keaton perfecta with Gerwig.

In “Frances Ha” Baumbach leaves the self-loathing behind and creates a truly unique character. Although broke, moving from apartment to apartment and in a type of career limbo that only a young idealist can understand, Frances is content. For most people not knowing when their next paycheck will arrive or where they are going to live would send them into a depressed state. For young New Yorkers this is the deal we make with the city. Stability and suburban life have been signed away for the great adventures of shitty apartments and detached encounters. New Yorkers revel in the fact that this is a rough city and to live here in the first place separates us from most people who are not drawn to the front lines of life.

For some moviegoers Noah Baumbach’s melancholy can be off putting, making the collaboration between Gerwig and Baumbach heaven sent, alone they are an accomplished actress and film director, together they have conceptualized the hopeless romantic and the tortured artist. In order to truly live we should expect to feel embarrassed, clueless, and disconnected as Frances does with the understanding that confidence and chemistry will come in short stunning bursts. Don’t dream it, do it, but with an understanding that the drudgery and despair is a part of its beauty.

By Michelle Montgomery