The Meyerowitz Stories press conference with Dustin Hoffman, Adam Sandler and Noah Baumbach

Noah Baumbach, Dustin Hoffman and Adam Sandler sat today with great chemistry; for a moment the press audience felt part of the intimate connection between these three film icons. Presenting The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), they explained how the intimate and personal – but also broadly relatable – script, and Noah’s approach to writing and directing, naturally lead to a deep and profound exploration of each other, first and foremost as humans and secondly as truthful craftsmen on a journey of (self)discovery.

The film tells the story of two half-brothers – one unemployed (Sandler), one wealthy (Ben Stiller) – who struggle to deal with the personality of their father (Hoffman) who had great but brief success as a sculptor when he was young. The actors and director’s professional endeavour results in a bond that succeeds in delivering an incredibly natural and spontaneous piece of work, enriching the script and the way the story is brought to life with many layers of interpretation and emotion. The drama that each character brings to life on both an individual level and in the relationship to each other as members of a dysfunctional family, is lightened by the comic tone of the film. Given the latter, the tone expresses a sense of joy for life as a dynamic and continuous unfolding with no point of arrival. In this context, Hoffman, as Harold, is the incarnation of a fragile but equally strong patriarchal figure who repeatedly reaffirms his role in society and within the family at the expense of his loved ones. The Kramer vs Kramer legend today reminded us all of how fragile family relationships can be and revealed how Harold confronts mortality impeding that his sons exceed him. Just before leaving, he also interrogated British press as to how to deal with a hot cup of tea.

Zoe Anne Rinaldi
Video and photo: Filippo L’Astorina

The Meyerowitz Stories is released nationwide on 13^th October 2017. Read our review here.

Read more reviews and interviews from our London Film Festival 2017 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the official BFI website here.