The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach) - Growing up.

[Saladin15]

Man, this movie really makes me emotional... My family and I would visit the Natural History Museum and I always loved it and this scene brings me right back to my childhood. I think Walt realizes that being like his father is not the right thing and that in the end he tries to re establish that connection he felt with his Mom when they were "still pals..." Really a great movie

[bragtheface]

I really love this film and the ending makes it. 

[TheIntruders]

The squid and the whale represent his lost innocence. Most children of liberal nutjob parents go through this same thing when they release their parents are complete idiots.

[Eyemuffs]

For fuck's sake, is growing up that much of a fucking mind trip?! Don't you all realize we're already dead! Fucking accept it and quit over analyzing everything like a bunch of pussies.

[MikeyRoberto]

@Eyemuffs You're clearly a very narrow minded person.

[Eyemuffs]

@MikeyRoberto How so? Is it because I refuse to be one of the sheep, thereby being capable of some sort of independent thinking? Instead of simply insulting someone who is much smarter than yourself because you have an intellectual inferiority complex, try formulating a concise argument. Human beings have an inflated sense of self worth. We are just an accident. Accept it.

[NuclearPlanet]

@Eyemuffs There Are Many Different Heards of Sheep My Friend. You Just Trail Among The Invisible Ones.

[Eyemuffs]

@NuclearPlanet I'm trying to decipher your mouth vomit. Is that one long quote, theorized by a mono syllabic schnook? Is it a series of quotes collected from the simpletons you adore? Is it a series of poems, editorials or even books of some failed abortion you idolize? Great job of making an assertion. I'm suprised you still breath, it's a wonder you haven't forgotten how. Nice try, thanks for playing.

[NuclearPlanet]

@Eyemuffs Ur Welcome Tight-Ass! ;)

[Eyemuffs]

@NuclearPlanet Faggotry is strong with you.

[nick794]

"the man in that room....." .... WOW!

[gregsdiary]

What Jesse (or Noah) seems to interpret as growing up and being objective may in fact be more in line with falling under another lie. (albeit a much broader, grander lie.)

[jaketohack]

Jesse is the sex god...his smexy smirk in every scenes make me drool...and this movie is awesome! I like all characters , really awesome and smooth.

[maryquinneth]

This scene always makes me cry, especially 1:17 - 2:17. Jesse is so vulnerable here, his facial expressions kill me. Okay, done being a theater kid/fangirl now.

[SillySadie16]

Where as his mom would have comforted him and made him feel better. His dad tries more to buy his love in this scene. He acts more as a teacher or friend than a dad which is what Walt needs or is missing.

[SillySadie16]

This is such a great ending, mostly because you know what Walt is thinking even though it doesn't say it. When he's looking at the squid and the whale it is because it is binging him back to a time of innocence where he didn't idealize his bad and brush off his mom. Rather he liked his mom better because they actually did things together and his parents didn't fight. Also when he breaks down in the hospital, you can see kind of a stunned reaction when his dad says,"Don't be difficult." Continued

[NintendoSegaSonyGuy]

Freaking great movie. The ending song of Street Hassle by Lou Reed fits together perfectly with the ending, and this movie is how I was first exposed to the brilliant Lou Reed in the first place. :D

[Ktwhit717]

Daniels should have won the Oscar for this

[ChiGuy16]

this movie sucked a big black one i was so pissed that i sat through it in class. the actor who plays the son is a fucking pussy and i hate him and he sucks dick at everything he does. Jeff Daniels is the only decent guy in this fucking abomination.

[misterbizzones]

@ChiGuy16 yeah you should have cut class and done something extreme like grinding a 60-foot rail on your gnar bar, and then you could steal a 40 and sneak into a real movie like the expendables and fingerbang the chick next to you the entire time. rock on poochie.

[ChiGuy16]

@misterbizzones sorry to disappoint you but i don't get into comment wars with pussies on the internet. fuck you and have a nice life.

[misterbizzones]

@ChiGuy16 yet you replied. clearly this is a desperate cry for help.

[mrdmcnulty]

@ChiGuy16 Wow. Such great anger displayed for a simple movie. You obviously have been hurt before. Interestingly enough, the young actor you hated is Jesse Eisenberg of the now #1 best film of the year, The Social Network. Hmm. Makes me wonder what you've done in your life to accomplish anything as significant. Whatever the case may be you might want to consider channeling your negative energy into something more positive. You'll be amazed at how much happier your life will be.

[ChiGuy16]

@mrdmcnulty First off fuck you, and second: all i did was express my opinion of that pussy actor, and i know he did social network, and because he was in it i did not see it. i also know he was in adventure land, an other piece of shit only held in high top favorite lists, by misfit college kids and idiot high school kids who will never see pussy in their lives. oh and i just wanted to say again fuck you

[dukerz718]

love this movie so much

[singingandsighing]

this movie is the fillet of the existential film genre...

[votexmanzoni]

3:20 ---------------> very nice feeling

[LeLimeLine]

Elegant. Elegant. Fillet.

[russianpimp26]

great song

[nikabou]

@russianpimp26 what's the name of that song????

[LeLimeLine]

@nikabou Street Hassle by Lou Reed, you philistine.

[nikabou]

@russianpimp26 nevermind i didnt recognize lou reed, it sounds like something recent and indie.

[TakeAPenny]

I just realized that the strings at the end are the same as Peer Pressure in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Neat.

[Expedio212]

@TakeAPenny

How do you mean?

[nevursleep]

Maturity isn't a theme reserved for Manhattan. I didn't see any similarities, whatsoever to Woody Allen, except there's a guy and he's in a hurry. Max (yeh I know) by contrast was chasing his emotions (again) and has most in common with the Graduate, with it's open-ended false-promise. Baumbach's forced "realizations" and sudden, silent "transformations" seem to have more in common with Hartley's surreal, stripped down "human puppet shows."

[specialmike140]

a classic

[pikeymikeyirish]

It's an elaborate homage to the maturing scene at the end of Woody Allen's Manhattan, they share similar themes. The analysis is still the same though.

[BunnyMan456]

I see what you mean about the similarities. The differences are very important though. In the Squid and The Whale his eyes are opened and he has a whole lot ahead of him, whereas Woody Allen in Manhattan has matured far too late and may never be able to make up the ground

[mcnally16us]

finally looking at the squid and the whale fighting represents his ability to deal with his parents divorce too.

[thomasa]

this ending is cool but i still like "WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE'S" ENDING BETTER.

[cloxwork]

@thomasa Never. Horrible Ending.

[DankeRainer]

best ending ever.

[Benioff1]

Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney deserved Oscar nominations along with Noah Baumbach's great script.

[reesters]

this is my favorite ending to any movie i have seen

[lemmycaution12]

and why was Jeff Daniels not nominated for this?

[ezstewie91]

because the academy is run by philistines

[Caljayc]

@ezstewie91 Very good! Haha! For anyone who's seen the film will get what this guy means

[ikillhippies]

@ezstewie91 ahahahah you sound exactly like the dad

[metafact]

@lemmycaution12 -- Because there was some confusion over whether his role was a lead or supporting, which most likely resulted in split votes in both categories. Combine that with the momentum of Hoffman, Ledger, Strathairn, Howard and Phoenix in the Best Actor category, and he didn't stand a chance. Shame, it was a great performance.

[Nick964]

i never quite understood this ending

[haldol123]

I wouldnt say i do, but what i felt is that this is that liberating and at the same time painful moment of growing up (or well, one of those moments...) - Walt realizes that his father in not that omnipotent, perfect, unquestionable super-being he thought him to be, he has his flaws and probably wont change anymore. As his father was the absolute role-figure in his life (as usually for all of us boys) this is a moment when the whole world suddenly needs to be "rethinked". (to be cont.:)

[haldol123]

But from now on, you dont have the safety and simplicity of mimicing your father.

The next scene with the squid and the whale might be a more individual view on his parents relationship (an image of two huge animals fighting, like our parents seemed like giants when we were children. Also it seems to me like this installation is a mix of constant fighting, sexuality, possesion and attachment. oh damn this character limit... to be cont. again)

[haldol123]

So hes looking at this picture, but not as a child anymore, experiencing everything fron the inside, but as a more separate being, seeing it from a distance. Of course i might be all wrong, but thats what i saw in it.

[Nick964]

thanks for the insight, i see what your saying. i just thought he ran to the museum because he was so restricted by his father to stay at his house when he wanted to go to his moms. and i thought that he ran to the squid and the whale exhibit because it reminded him of a time when his parents were together

[goofyskid1]

So the scene in the Museum shows how the older son voluntarily grasps a new vision.

a "retake" of what he couldn't see before.

And that new vision of his symbolizes a departure from from his parents.

Anyway, a brilliant film.

[Codyisrodeo1]

@haldol123 earlier in the film he tells the story of how he and his mother went to see the Squid & The Whale in the museum. I think the end is also a sign that he is going over to his mother's "side" as it were, or maybe just viewing things from her same viewpoint... rather than his father's.

[ellaelise]

@haldol123 Yeah. I also see it as... he was always afraid to look straight at the squid and the whale. But now he's brave enough to, just like he's brave enough to see his father as imperfect and see that his mother isn't completely flawed. I'm having a hard time putting it into words, but I think you get it. He's able to stare right into it.

[jimmiescoffee]

@Nick964 he stuck up to his dad and his silly childhood fear (the squid and the whale)... pretty simple. and amazingly beautiful with the lou reed in the back.

[IamJacksColon4]

@Nick964

He said when he was young he was afraid to look at the whale and the squid in the museum. so this symbolizes that hes becoming an adult.

[samjcook1994]

@Nick964 I think this ending is about how he thought his mum was the whale attacking his small innocent dad,the shrimp (with the affairs),but actually it was his dad who emasculated his mum so much that she was trapped.As shown by the fact the shrimp isnt tiny but actually beating the whale;his Dad isnt helpless but actually a horrible husband. This is also clear through how he treats Walt, taking his gilfiriends, ordering him around until he realises mum was the victim and asks to live with her

[samjcook1994]

@Nick964 I think this ending is about how he thought his mum was the whale attacking his small innocent dad,the shrimp (with the affairs),but actually it was his dad who emasculated his mum so much that she was trapped.As shown by the fact the shrimp isnt tiny but actually beating the whale;his Dad isnt helpless but actually a horrible husband. This is also clear through how he treats Walt, taking his girlfriend, ordering him around until he realises mum was the victim and asks to live with her.

[samjcook1994]

@Nick964 I think this ending is about how he thought his mum was the whale attacking his small innocent dad,the squid (with the affairs),but actually it was his dad who emasculated his mum so much that she was trapped.As shown by the fact the squid isnt tiny but actually beating the whale;his Dad isnt helpless but actually a horrible husband. This is also clear through how he treats Walt, taking his girlfriend, ordering him around until he realises mum was the victim and asks to live with her.

[FlawlessCM]

@Nick964

Walt realises, through his therapy session, that his mother more or less brought them up single handedly, while his father wasn't around - probably obsessing over climbing the ladder in literacy circles. So he leaves him in the hospital, as a sign of independence, and a gives a nod to his mother by going back to the museum, which was one of his happiest memories as a child.

[OverlyCaucasianMale]

@Nick964 Also, earlier in the movie, he said when he was a kid and his Mom took him to see this exhibit, he always got scared and closed his eyes. Notice how he barely blinks while he looks at the exhibit in this last scene; he's growing up.

[ellaelise]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS. the ending to this movie gives me shivers every time.

[Hawksxc12]

what was the name

[dunkrunk]

Never mind I found it. Great clip!

[dunkrunk]

Do you know what the song is?

[cagedavid]

The song is an old Lou Reed song called Street Hassle. Great classic song in my opinion.