In the final minutes ofGreta Gerwig’sLady Bird, the movie’s titular character (Saoirse Ronan) finally makes peace with the things that made her the person that she is now. Waking up alone at a hospital, she realizes that she misses her mother, with whom she always had a contentious relationship. Visiting a church, she feels at home in the memory of the Catholic school that she was forced to attend. After leaving mass, she calls home and identifies herself as Christine, accepting the name her parents chose for her. Last, but not least, she reveals that she has fond feelings for her hometown of Sacramento, California, that she always dreamed of leaving for the East Coast.
And, yet, Lady Bird - or Christine - doesn’t go back. In a lesser movie, she would have realized that Sacramento has always been her real home, the only place in which she can truly be happy. But Gerwig’s protagonist knows that the future lies ahead of her in the city in which she chose to live. She accepts her past and finds happiness with it, but she still looks bright-eyed toward the future. It’s a healthy kind of nostalgia that still allows her to grow. It’s the kind of nostalgia that allgood coming-of-age moviesshould be made of. Alas, that isn’t always the case.
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Despite Being a Pleasant Watch, ‘Lady Bird’ Isn’t an Easy Movie to Make
Originally released in 2017,Lady Birdfollows a year in the life of its titular character, Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, an artsy and rebellious teenage girl that dreams of a world beyond the confines of her native Sacramento. Throughout Lady Bird’s final year of high school, we witness her finding joy, making mistakes, and just generally going through the highs and lows of lower middle-class adolescence. At the center of the story is the character’s strenuous relationship with her mother, expertly played byLaurie Metcalf, her shame for not being as rich as her classmates, her friendship with fellow poor student Julie (Beanie Feldstein), and her first experiences with love.
Lady Birdis a lovely movie. It’s heartwarming and just a tad bit sad. It’s the closest a film can get to a hug. However, though it’s overall an easy watch, it isn’t an easy movie to make, especially considering how much of its director’s relationship with her own past went into its production. Sure,Lady Birdmight not be an autobiographical movie per se:Gerwig has made it quite clear that “nothing in the movie literally happened in my life.”However, she also stated that the movie still “has a core of truth that resonates with what I know”. The director, who also doubles as the film’s writer, has a lot in common with her protagonist: much like Lady Bird, Gerwig was an artsy Sacramento kid that attended Catholic school and flew to the East Coast in search of a brighter future. To make a good movie about these experiences, Gerwig had to take a long, hard look at her own teenage years and examine them with honesty, avoiding the trappings of nostalgia.
Most Directors Wait Until They Are Older to Make a Movie Like ‘Lady Bird’
In order to succeed at such a task, most directors usually take decades to make this kind of film. They want to make sure that they are mature enough to capture the essence of their childhood while also being able to examine their early years through the eyes of an adult. To name a few recent examples,Kenneth Branaghwas 61 whenBelfastcame out, andTerrence Malickwas 67 whenThe Tree of Lifewas released.Cameron Crowewas 42 when he madeAlmost Famous, whileSteven Spielbergwas 76 at the time of the release of hisgreat autobiographical film,The Fabelmans, which came out last year.
Meanwhile, Greta Gerwig was only 33 in 2017, whenLady Birdfirst hit theaters. She isn’t, of course, the only director to make a (sort of) autobiographical film before turning 40. Her husband andBarbieco-writerNoah BaumbachshotThe Squid and the Whaleat 37. Perhaps the most quintessential coming-of-age movie ever made,François Truffaut’sThe 400 Blowswas released when its director was only 27. Being so close to your childhood might seem like an advantage when making a movie about your younger self, but it isn’t necessarily so. After all, when we are young, we tend to perceive ourselves as constant victims of our parents' and teachers’ whims. And, in order to tell a proper story about growing up, we must be at a stage in our lives in which we are able to see adults as flawed human beings instead of mere tyrants. Thus, it is often preferable to wait until you can recognize your own immaturity and the complexity of the world around you before making your big coming-of-age debut, especially if you want to include parts of your own life in the story.
‘Lady Bird’ Benefits from Greta Gerwig’s Proximity to Her Source Material
However, maturity isn’t always synonymous with age. Sometimes, being a young filmmaker can even be beneficial to making a film about your own childhood, as long as you develop a critical perception of your past self’s shortcomings early enough in life.Lady Birdis a great example of that. Ronan’s titular character isn’t necessarily likable. Gerwig isn’t squeamish about showing how her protagonist can be selfish and cruel. Lady Bird has no qualms about betraying the love of her best friend to become closer to a boy she likes, nor is she quick to realize how her shame of her own family serves as fodder for her father’s depression. In a particularly revealing scene about how honest the film is about its main character’s flaws, Lady Bird is racist towards her adoptive brother Miguel (Jordan Rodrigues), implying that he only got into college because of his Latin-American heritage.Lady Birdis the kind of screenplay that can only be written by someone with a vast understanding of just how awful and stupid kids can be. And, in order to realize that you were also this awful and stupid one day, you need a certain detachment from your childhood days.
ButLady Birdis also a movie that understands that a lot of this teenage cruelty comes from the pain of these coming-of-age years. Gerwig is never condescending towards her main character, not even when she’s being mean to others: Lady Bird’s poverty-induced shame is shown as being something that truly hurts her, and her wish to leave Sacramento is never painted as the unreasonable dreams of a spoiled child. In yet another revealing scene, Lady Bird has her first sexual experience with Kyle (Timothée Chalamet), a pretentious boy who lies to her about being a virgin too. Upon learning the truth, she’s heartbroken. It’s as if, all of a sudden, her first time isn’t special anymore. Kyle tries to make her feel bad about being sad, bringing up the civilians killed in the invasion of Iraq in a very“Kim, there’s people that are dying”way. Lady Bird - and the movie - is quick to tell him off, saying: “Different things can be sad. It’s not all war.” In order to recognize this realness of teenage pain, one needs to be very in touch with one’s inner child.
By being an adult and, at the same time, being so chronologically close to her source material, Gerwig manages to achieve an equilibrium between detachment and involvement. She manages to see the cruelty and immaturity of her teenage self and, thus, of her main character, but she’s also true to their pain. In a way,Lady Birdis benefited by the fact that its director didn’t wait too long to make it. And perhaps nowhere in the movie is this more obvious than in its final scene. At the end ofLady Bird, Christine McPherson, now at peace with her given name, looks bright-eyed into the future that awaits her. She stares at the road ahead with the sense of wonder of someone that still has a long life to live. However, she also gazes at the past with kindness, no longer angry, but thankful for everything that life has given her so far. It’s the look of an adult, but also the look of a kid, and it’s precisely this balance that makesLady Birdso great.
