Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1488780
(L to R) Adam Driver as Jack, Greta Gerwig as Babette, and Don Cheadle as Murray in "White Noise." P H OT O : N E T F L I X 44 C I N E M O N T A G E F E A T U R E ponder his own mortality, the world of the film — full of the movies, fashions, and mer- chandise of the 1980s — serves to distract him. In a way, that's the point. "It's like as long as you are in the shop- ping center, you're going to be safe because everyone else is there doing the same thing," Hannam said. "But the second you put your neck out and do something on your own, you could die. I think that's a really salient concept." That all may sound heavy, but in truth, "White Noise" is bright, bold, and fun. An- chored by Driver and Gerwig's appealingly cockeyed performances, the film at least in part embraces the consumerism it par- odies. "There is the satirical, weird spirit of celebrating commerce as well as being firmly anti-commerce," Hannam said. "We didn't want to be a negative downer of a 'White Noise.' We wanted it to be a warm family story." With his encyclopedic grasp of high and low 1980s pop culture, Hannam, who had not previously collaborated with Baum- bach, was an inspired choice to edit "White Noise." "I met Noah and we hit it off," Han- nam said. "I said, 'I was born to make this movie: I love the '80s, I love assertive Amer- ican literature from this period.' We talked a lot about books and writers." And, for his part, Baumbach recognized a kindred spirit in Hannam. "I like to involve the editor from the early drafts of the script onward so our process started quite early, and I'm in the editing room every day, so we had to really get along," Baumbach said in a statement to CineMontage. "Matt has a great sense of rhythm and storytelling, as well as knowing good places to eat and shop for clothes. It was a very happy collaboration." For Baumbach, whose earlier f ilms include "The Squid and the Whale" (2005), 'The second you put your neck out, you could die.'