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THE MOVIE MUSICAL PAGE |
Virtually all films today are suffused with music,
scored to create mood or heighten tension or increase dramatic or
comedic impact. Rarely does this music attempt to bridge
the gap between the realistic and the metaphorical, which is at the heart of the
movie musical, a genre that has been largely--though not
exclusively--American. The classical Hollywood musical is an artifice, a
pretext built on the proposition that a song or a dance step is as
natural as a smile. But times have changed and we are no longer
comfortable with such a conceit.
But the situation may be changing. Rob
Marshall's Chicago
could be the start of something big. Though it does often substitute
quick cuts and breathtaking editing for extended dance numbers, it does
retain Bob Fosse's exuberance: it is rollicking
entertainment. I would argue that the essential
metaphor is still at work here, that musical numbers reveal the
emotional lives of those who sing and dance, that is, meaning is given
through music. If the movie musical is heading in new directions,
that's okay too, but for the moment I'm willing to maintain the illusion
of bygone
times when singing in the rain was as natural as a goodnight kiss. align="center">
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