1001 Movies - An American in Paris

In 2009, Hugh Jackman proclaimed 'The musical is back!' as he performed with the stars of hit musicals High School Musical 3 and Mumma Mia! at the 81st Academy Awards. It's hard to argue with him; since then The Greatest Showman, Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins Returns, and even the modern retelling of the classic Les Miserables have all hit the top ten highest grossing musicals, have become cultural hits and have led to more musical magic being slated in the coming years. But none of those films performed as well critically. Despite great songs, they lacked something: a pulse. Life. A beating heart in and amongst their big name leads, flashy productions, and Oscar nominated numbers. Vincente Minnelli's 1951 classic An American in Paris had that so who could ask for anything more?  

Of course, it's rare to find a film with quite as much as heart as An American in Paris. It's an emotional roller-coaster with joy and sadness, love and loneliness, paints and pains. The story of struggling artists that struggle equally in love. Their poetic minds fantasising about what love is, how love should be, and who to love. And the heart of the film is not one that beats, but rather taps as a gleaming Gene Kelly and a solid supporting cast explore the passionate rhythm of art and humanity through song and dance, tip-tapping their toes through some of the most enjoyable musical numbers ever committed to screen. To sum it up in the language of the film: S'wonderful, s'marvellous!

Its vibrant pastel palette protrudes from the screen, engulfing the audience in its radiancing warmth and joy, the picture it paints paying homage to the art it so obviously admires. This is most explicitly and exceptionally clear in its final astonishing dance sequence which leaves the audience gasping and breathless, before throwing them back into reality, just as Gene Kelly's Jerry is at the film's end. There's something undeniably special about the construction, presentation, and execution of every element of An American Paris from the contagious dancing, to the heart warming singing, to the gut punching finish. Is it Kelly's raw charisma and talent? Is it Gershwin's moving music? Is it that jaw-dropping ballet climax? Whatever it is, it's got a pulse; it's got rhythm.

Despite its obvious, major influence on later acclaimed films (see Best Picture winner nominee La La Land) as well as less critically adored musicals, one thing is clear: they just don't make them like this anymore.

The Greatest Showman

Phineas Barnum (better known as P. T. Barnum - played by Hugh Jackman) is a tailor's son - mistreated, penniless, and dreaming of better things for himself, including a life with Charity (Michelle Williams), the daughter of a wealthy client of P. T.'s father. Seeking to change his fortune to give Charity the life of her dreams, Barnum sets about making his fortune with a museum of curiosities, adapting it slowly into a hugely popular and increasingly controversial circus of oddity performers such as a bearded lady, a tattooed man, and a dwarf soldier. But as the circus becomes ever more renown but at the same time more ridiculed, Barnum teams up with Philip Carlyle (Zac Efron), a theatre producer, and sets his sights on a higher class of audience.

The Greatest Showman is a passion project that took seven years to take to the big screen that has produced some of the most inventively staged and filmed musical set pieces of the last 20 years. It immediately bursts into life straight from the Fox logo with a silhouetted ringmaster prancing and dancing his way through the greatest show whilst singing at the top of his lungs to a percussive beat that will make you jam out in your seat; it's clear from the off what sort of musical you are in for. With contemporary influences poured onto lavish ensemble numbers, The Greatest Showman's greatest strength, quite appropriately, is its showmanship - its marvellous spectacle. Teaming powerful voices like Hugh Jackman and Keala Settle with Oscar award winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and topping it off with choreography by Mathieu Leopold, The Greatest Showman dazzles, astounds, and brings joy through its big numbers.

The problem with this is that the narrative falls victim to a lack of detail, a lack of care. A story of showmanship is sold with showmanship, but much like P.T. Barnum's true life ventures, there's an element of fraudulence here. So much is expended on the set pieces that a huge amount of what is in between is shallow and lacking in substance. The stars of Barnum's circus, his critics, and his colleagues are all superficial creations, existing without backstory or depth beyond the most surface elements. Major plot points are skimmed over and the audience are expected to just accept the world with which they are presented but it leaves a certain hollowness to the whole thing. It's a pity that the passion that went into getting the film made (see videos from the workshops and the B-roll footage for evidence) couldn't make its way onto the screen.

It could be argued that what La La Land (the songs in which were also penned by Pasek and Paul) lacked, The Greatest Showman has. It has flair, it has style, but it lacks the substance of it's Oscar dominating peer and that's the difference. It could be put down to rookie director Michael Gracey going through some teething problems in directing his feature film though the influence of his career in visual effects is not lost here. The film is beautifully shot and edited and the narrative, or what is there, is brilliantly emphasised through some digital trickery and imagery and smooth scene to scene transitions. It never drags and it is never unenjoyable.

One of the truest movie musicals in recent cinematic history. It's no Sound of Music but it is a heap of fun expressed through a impressively dominating production design and while you'll want to watch the songs over and over, the overall product is missing the definition that could have made it the greatest show. 

Out Of the Oscar Coma: Short Reviews

Every year after rocketing through all the films I can on the Oscar ballot, I slip into an 'Oscar Coma'. I avoid too many films to catch up with some television instead. This means that very little happens on this blog. But do not think I have been sitting by doing nothing. To prove that, have some small reviews to keep you all going.

Frozen

The latest Disney animation about two princesses, Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell). Elsa has magical abilities that allow her to conjure ice and snow. On the day of her coronation, Anna gets engaged to Hans (Santino Fontana), a man she has only just met, and Elsa cannot hide her powers any more. She is run out of her kingdom by her own people and hides away in a castle of ice. With the help of ice loving Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and his reindeer Sven, Anna goes in search of her sister. There's also a snowman called Olaf (Josh Gad) and some trolls who have raised Kristoff.

Whilst the animation and concepts within the film are incredible, the rest just is not quite there. There are plenty of minor issues that could easily be solved but instead leave questions unanswered. With songs thrown in with little reasoning - the trolls tell us that Kristoff is a fixer upper, a pointless song - and with a plot that rattles by with the speed of a cheetah, the film cannot afford to waste time with such meaningless songs. It is not that the songs lack quality, they lack value. Similarly, the rest of the film is enjoyable but entirely superficial. It ticks all the boxes on the mainstream check list - attractive protagonists, catchy songs, visually engaging animation, silly jokes - but it is all surface level. With minimal plot, the most character development happens in one song: Do You Want To Build A Snowman. After this, what could have been bold statements by Disney about sisterly love, anxiety, being who you are, and the dangers of judging others fall away into the distance and become dots on the horizon. But it is fine because the trolls are adorable, right?

Catchy, enjoyable, but lacking in any real depth. So much potential in the first twenty minutes. Such a small outcome.

Best Bit? Do You Want To Be A Snowman is one of the most moving openings to a film in a long time. Two entire characters summed up in a couple of minutes.

The LEGO Movie

Another big animation, this time coming from Warner Brothers and is completely made from LEGO. Not stop motion, mind - computer animation of LEGO. Emmet (Chris Pratt) is a perfectly average LEGO man when he gets mistaken for the most extraordinary person alive. He gets roped into a society of 'Master Builders', the LEGO characters who can build away from instructions. These people include Batman (Will Arnett), Abraham Lincoln (Will Forte), Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), and the girl who discovers Emmet, Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks). However, Lord Business (Will Ferrell), the evil tyrant that rules the LEGO world, forbids the making of LEGO structures without instructions and has evil plans to solidify his universe with 'Kragle'. Emmet, as the 'Special' must use his abilities to stop him. Unfortunately, he does not have those abilities.

The LEGO Movie created a stir prior to its release with its hilarious trailers featuring every character under the sun. It does not disappoint. Scattered with laugh out loud moments but between, the chuckling will not rest. Highly inventive, literally using one of the world's most popular playtime toys as the driving force of a whole plot. There is no way you will not find yourself wanting to dig out your old LEGO box when the credits roll. Maybe it is a huge advertisement, but it never stops being entertaining for the entire family. Feel no shame watching it without kids, this film is made for everyone. And guaranteed you will not be able to get Everything is Awesome out of your head for weeks.

A strangely philosophical escape from reality into a childish sense of joy. Hilarious and gloriously entertaining.

Best Bit? The meeting of the Master Builders in Cloud Cuckoo Land. Hilariously constructed with cameos from your favourite characters and voice actors alike.

The Act Of Killing

Joshua Oppenheimer's Oscar nominated documentary asks government protected Indonesian killers who committed mass murders 50 years ago to reconstruct their killings in any film genre they want. This includes gangster films, art films, and musical numbers. The result is a brutal truth exposing the atrocities that happened decades ago in a country that flies relatively low on the Western World's radar. Do not be mistaken by the pastel colours on the poster. It is far more  disturbing than that, a point which the trailer makes very clear.

This is one of the finest documentaries in years. Challenging, powerful, shocking, and hard to watch. Anwar, the killer we follow, is a horribly likeable character, dancing on rooftops whilst describing the brutal ways he tortured and murdered people. Perhaps more disturbing is the idea of him being hailed as a national hero for his 'crimes'. As he says himself, crimes are decided by the winners and he is a winner. What The Act Of Killing does is open the viewers' eyes to the darkness in the world, and the horrors of seeing your own dark past in front of you.

Hard hitting and eye-opening. A masterpiece.

Best Bit? Is there a best bit in something made to expose darkness? There's certainly something heartbreaking about the end. 

The Miserable

With a couple of Golden Globes and Oscar nominations under its belt, today’s film already seems to be one that the higher powers in film seem to be enjoying. Why? Why not? It is a film about miserable people singing. What more could one want? It has been a while since a musical was so successful in the awards season so what makes this one so different? This is Les Misérables.

Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) has been imprisoned, a slave to the law, for nineteen years; five years because he stole a loaf of bread, the rest because he tried to run. He has been under the watchful eye of Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) but finally, he gets his parole. Javert insists he is a dangerous man but Valjean soon finds a bishop who makes him an honest man. Jump forward 8 years. Valjean is now Monsieur Madeleine and is the mayor of a small town. One of his workers, Fantine (Anne Hathaway), gets fired and becomes a prostitute after selling her hair and some teeth. After attacking a man, Javert demands for his arrest but Valjean insists she goes to a hospital. He swears to take care of her child, Cosette (Isabelle Allen), who is being cared for by the Thénardiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter), a couple who run an inn with their daughter Éponine (Natalya Wallace). Valjean takes Cosette away. Jump forward nine years. Students, Marius (Eddie Redmayne) and Enjolras (Aaron Tveit), along with street urchin Gavroche (Daniel Huddlestone), plan for revolution. Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) and Éponine (Samantha Barks) are now young ladies and have eyes for Marius, Javert is still completely law driven, Valjean – with Cosette – still lives in hiding, and France is on the verge of civil war. All the characters’ lives start intertwining as they get closer and closer to the day when battle starts, but how will things turn out.

And people wondered why Valjean had a damp personality. 

There is really only one negative casting choice so we will start by looking at that. Amanda Seyfried’s voice is terribly irritating. When she sings, for some reason, she cannot hold a note without trilling and wavering. It might not be such an issue if she was not a high soprano, which, with the wavering, makes her sound like an alarm bell. As irritating as Cosette is as a character, it does not mean she has to sound annoying. Apart from this, the cast was nigh to perfect. Hugh Jackman, nominated for Best Leading Actor at the Oscars, is a powerful protagonist and gives a really touching performance that shows his care and love for the people around him. A truly reformed man after nineteen years in prison. Crowe, as Javert, has possibly been had the most divided reviews. Why? It is unclear. He was fantastic as Javert. He nails the internal conflict that Javert struggles from; there is only good and bad in his mind, anything in between causes serious issues. He makes an ideal opposite to Jackman’s Valjean – see the Confrontation song for proof of this. Hathaway, nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars, is on screen for only a short period of time but she dominates every scene she is in. ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ will send shivers town your spine and tingle your soul. A hauntingly beautiful song. *Breathes for a moment. Lot of cast to get through here.*

When English students rioted, there was a lot of damage.
When French Students rioted, there was singing. 

Eddie Redmayne has a beautiful voice. Whilst his love may never seem genuine, his heartbreak certainly is. ‘Empty Chairs and Empty Tables’ will rip at your heart; get the tissues ready. Despite his slightly odd singing face, the voice that accompanies it is stunning and most of Marius’ emotions are echoed in song rather than his physical actions. Aaron Tveit as Enjolras is the strongest of the students. He’s driven by revolution and his tough persona, arguably, is the main thing that keeps the men’s spirits up. Again, his voice is spot on for the character; it is strong and powerful. He just emits swag. Samantha Barks, the beautiful Éponine, having played the part on stage, is simply incredible. Her voice is so captivating, ‘On My Own,’ becomes so engaging even though it is just a girl standing in the rain. Hopefully, she will push further for a career in film so we will see more of her.Bonham Carter and Baron Cohen are the comedy relief in the film and thank God for them. The film is so soul destroying, some comedy is completely needed. ‘Master of the House’ sums them up completely as you watch them smoothly steal from people’s pockets, heads, and even eye sockets. They are a treat in the sad times. Finally, the child actors are wonderful, particularly Daniel Huddlestone. Gavroche is possibly the strongest willed character in the French revolution and is so cool you just wish you could hang around with him. Maybe give him a couple of years to grow up first though. Phew.

Look out for Éponine's book:Friendzoning - A First Hand Experience. 

So now to the man who brought it all together. A man who already holds an Oscar for his direction of The Kings Speech two years ago, Tom Hooper. Despite having a face that never fails to seem smug (Google image his name), he has done wonders here. His decision to sing live on set is not much short of genius. You can see how it affects the performance of every single actor and actress. One cannot help but think that perhaps the film would be completely different if it had been done like a conventional musical, with the soundtrack filmed before the shooting starts. Obviously, the music is incredible. What else would one expect from a world renown musical? The set, too, is so visually astounding. From giant elephant sculptures to giant barricades, the whole film captures your eye and your interest. It makes it hard to look away. And there's something very interesting in the way certain bits are shot. They are particularly noticable in Javert's moments. For example, when singing 'Stars', we see him on a roof singing out to France with possible the most open shot of the film, but rarely does the film feel more intimate. There are often moments like this which are hard to explain how they work, but they just do.

A simply brilliant piece of cinema. The only really negative, as already stated, is Amanda Seyfried's singing. The rest of the songs will be stuck in your head for days, maybe weeks. There is something about it that just makes you want to watch it again and again. This humble blogger has seen it four times already (three times to indulge other people who wanted to see it, admittedly). A great watch, but do not forget the tissues. It is a weepy one.

Best Bit? The choreography in 'Confrontation' between Javert and Valjean is simply incredibly captivating and, along with what is one of the best songs in the musical, it just is an unforgettable moment.

Time To Rent A Movie... But Which One?

The other day, I was chatting to a fresher (A delightful girl by the name of Sian - She'll appreciate the name dropping) and we discovered we shared a mutual love for the musical Rent. To my horror, I discovered she had not seen the stage production, only the movie. Luckily for her, I have the 2008 Broadway Filming on my laptop. Cue a movie night at the end of which Sian said the words, 'I prefer the film.' A discussion broke out and the suggestion was made that I review them both, so here we go.

If, somehow, you are not aware of Rent or what it is about, here is a quick synopsis: a group of seven friends living in poverty in New York are struggling with love, failing careers, and AIDS. They face eviction from their homes due to their old friend Benny having married into a fair amount of money and buying the block that the protagonists live in. A musical that copes with sickness, friendship, and love in a touching manner. The film cuts several songs out but has the advantage of a real landscape for the characters to perform around. The 2008 Broadway movie obviously has more songs (in fact is mostly sung) and an (almost) entirely different cast. A near bare stage and less extras. How do they compare to one another? Let's see.

Rent: The Film

Cast:
Anthony Rapp - Mark Cohen
Adam Pascal - Roger Davis
Rosario Dawson - Mimi Marquez
Jesse L. Martin - Thomas B. "Tom" Collins
Wilson Jermaine Heredia - Angel Dumott Schunard
Idina Menzel - Maureen Johnson
Tracie Thoms - Joanne Jefferson
Taye Diggs - Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III

A truly fantastic cast. Most of the cast that had been performing together from the show's first performance on Broadway. The two newcomers, Thoms and Dawson, are both incredible additions to the cast and it is impossible to tell that they hadn't previously been in the cast. They provide two of the most dedicated performances in the film and Dawson's voice is simply indescribably perfect for Mimi's character. Daphne Rubin-Vega and Fredi Walker (the original Mimi and Joanne, respectively) both left the cast because they felt they were too old for their characters - which perhaps a few more cast members should have considered... Rubin- Vega was also pregnant - and their replacements fitted their roles perfectly. In fact, the only issue with the cast is Pascal's portrayal of Roger. There is little emotional change in his character at all. Admittedly, the songs that show this most are rushed or cut out (Without You, Goodbye Love) but for a man who hasn't left his apartment for seven months, there never seems to be that deep hurt that Roger is meant to have. The hidden pain is not there.

The real issues with the film come from the script. Having kept most of the dialogue from the stage production, one would think that the film would flow like it does on stage. It does not. Considering most of the lines in the stage production are sung, when spoken in the film they sound jarring and peculiar. the rhyming pattern in the speech sound like a Dr Seuss book when simply spoken.The second huge issue with the writing is so much of importance is cut out or rushed. Obviously, the stage production comes in at around two and a half hours and therefore needs a lot of cutting. We don't find out that Roger's ex slit her wrists and telling him he had AIDs in the note. We miss Mark's entire issue about being the only one to survive out of his closest friends. The film still works without these aspects, but it does lose a lot in terms of emotion. Christopher Columbus actually cut most of Goodbye Love and Halloween (two of Mark's most important songs) because he was fearful of the emotional overload, which is what, ironically, the film suffered without.

While it may be pretty to look at and listen to during the songs, the film lacks a strong core. As with many on-screen musicals, it suffers from a pile of cheese during musical numbers that make it all a bit soft. Walking through deserts, singing off rooftops, throwing flaming paper into the road because your home is cold (that one really makes no sense), an engagement party that goes wrong, complete with on-the-table dancing. Get the soundtrack for the film; that's all you really need.

Best Bit?  Rosario Dawson's voice is incredible and her song, Out Tonight, is absolutely incredible. Without You, despite being rushed, is still the most touching moment of the film, followed closely by I'll Cover You (Reprise).

Rent: Filmed Live On Broadway

Cast:
Will Chase - Roger Davis
Adam Kantor - Mark Cohen
Michael McElroy - Thomas B. "Tom" Collins
Rodney Hicks - Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III
Tracie Thoms - Joanne Jefferson
Justin Johnston - Angel Dumott-Schunard
Renée Elise Goldsberry - Mimi Marquez
Eden Espinosa - Maureen Johnson

There is few things in films that I can call flawless, but this cast is exactly that. Every single cast member on stage has an incredible voice and also gives the performance of their lives. The chemistry in all of the relationships is so strong you wouldn't believe there was any acting involved. Of course, Thoms is still playing Joanne, but the rest of the cast (except Hicks, who was a Benny understudy, and Gwen Stewart (Bag Lady)) are new and extremely different to the film cast. No particular performance can be picke out as the best. Though, McElroy's rendition of I'll Cover You (Reprise) will cause even the hardest of hearts to melt and the driest of eyes to water. It is simply beautiful and touching.

Despite having little more than a few tables, some stairs, and a little trap door, the scenery surrounding the action is completely there. At no point will you find yourself questioning what is going on. Something about the intimacy on stage - the reality of it all - makes even the minimalistic set seem defined and identifiable. The singing is outstanding and as almost the entire production is sung, the texture and layers of all the songs adds something that no score could ever do. Even songs like Christmas Bells which deals with, in a single song, love, drug addictions, friendship, the homeless, and snow, to name but a few things. Filmed like a movie, only the occasional shot shows the entire stage, but it means that those who were never fortunate enough to visit Broadway (like yours truly) can get an intimate viewing of the show and get the idea of what it would have been like both in the audience and on stage. 

Unavailable as a soundtrack, but if it were, it would still not be enough. While the singing is fantastic, it is by no means the only strong point of the show. The acting is incredible, the direction is incredible, the singing is beyond words. A fantastic watch, especially for those who love seeing productions on the stage. Simply a must-see for musical fans.

Best Bit? La Vie Boheme is a definite highlight of the production and the chills that will be sent down your spine during I'll Cover You (Reprise) are unbelievable. If you don't cry, you're evidently soulless. 

How They Compare

The immediate thing that must be discussed when comparing these two films is the scenery. One has real scenery, one is minimalistic. How could the latter ever live up to that? The film does have this as an easy advantage; it is a lot easier to see where the characters are and what they are doing without Mark's occasional narration that the production has. However, on stage, four different scenarios can be playing out at the same time. Examples of this include Rent and Christmas Bells, the former of which is also in the film but only has two stories running during the song - Mark and Roger having to pay rent and Collins getting attacked - whereas the stage production also introduces us to Joanne and her relationship with Maureen and a more human side to Benny, something the film does not do at all. This adds more depth to the stage production and, honestly, it looks and sounds better than the film as well.

Acting is hard to compare as the new cast act very differently to the old cast - with the exception of Thoms. Rosario Dawson is a better singer than Renée Elise Goldsberry however Goldsberry has a better connection with her fellow cast, which makes her a lot easier to watch. her connection with Will Chase as Roger in particular is something that is rare to see in even the bes actors. Chase, in general, seems to capture more of Roger's past in his performance. There are clearer signs of the pain he has experienced; something that just doesn't come across in Pascal's performance. Apart from this, both casts are pretty equal. We see Justin Johnston's impressive vocal range than we do of Wilson Jermaine Heredia's, though this is probably because Contact and Happy New Year B are not in the film, Angel's best songs to show of his vocal range. Also, Eden Espinosa is creepily similar to Idina Menzel, buut not quite as good in any way.

The complexity of the music on stage really outdoes that in the film in every sense and it doesn't require completely ridiculous set pieces. I will never be entirely sure what Christopher Columbus was aiming to do in the following scenes: Everyone throwing fire out of their windows during Rent, Roger singing off his balcony whilst everyone sings up at him from the street with no purpose for being there in Another Day, Mark hitting his head and imagining a large Tango session with Joanne in Tango: Maureen, the piles of TVs that Maureen uses during Over the Moon despite being so poor, Roger walking through the desert in What You Own, Mark and Roger singing off their roof in What You Own - Mark in fact tells the sky, 'Alexi? I need to finish my own film, I quit!' I don't think that's an official resignation Mark. There are also fantastic set pieces in the film; both Sante Fe and Today 4 U are better in the film than on stage. However, the entire Joanne/Maureen engagement is a completely unneeded extra plot which could have easily been replaced with better songs and scenes.

My final point is that the film tries a little too hard to be big and grand. The set pieces already mention which don't work as well as Columbus hoped they would are examples of this, but also moments like the entire cast singing the end of Rent which completely removes the intensity of Mark and Roger's problems and also cuts out their incredible final harmony. (Seriously, as a singer, those notes are hard to hit.)

If you want to watch Rent then, watch the 2008 Broadway filming. It's as simple as that. I would suggest watching both to make a fair decision on them for yourself, but, as I mentioned previously, the soundtrack from the film is really the best thing about it, so owning that should suffice.

Rent: The Film

Rent: Filmed Live On Broadway