Scene and Character in Marriage Story: Power Dynamic in Divorce and the Abuse of Pain Anonymous College

Noah Baumbach is often recognized as a great screenwriter. He writes dialogue that is simultaneously realistic but also dramatic. However good, dialogue only gets you so far. Thankfully, Baumbach can also handle the rest brilliantly in Marriage Story, investigating how the power dynamics between the characters undermine the possibility of reconciliation and turning love into pain.

In the film, Scarlett Johansson plays actor Nicole as she nervously approaches the cunning lawyer Nora to discuss her separation from theater director Charlie. The context here is that Charlie and Nicole had agreed not to use lawyers but Nicole, encouraged by a colleague, seeks out Nora anyway. Nicole agrees to meet with Nora, but because of her no lawyer agreement with Charlie, she is extremely tentative about the process. She is only doing it to fill an emotional need, rather than the desire to be represented in court. Nora knows this and completely takes advantage of her.

In this scene, Nora uses Nicole's pain to gain power, and we're shown just how powerless Nicole has been and is becoming. The scene starts with an already tall Laura Dern playing Nora made even taller with a pair of incredible heels. She starts off the dialogue, "sorry I look so...