Posts Tagged ‘Moulin Rouge!’

With the recent DVD release of Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch we thought it would be worth our while to revisit our thoughts on the movie and give it a second look. While we stand by our review of the film by Cliff Bugle we nevertheless thought that a female perspective would be particularly interesting to have in this case. Naturally then, we referred to our own Marisa Carpico. The film has been heralded by some as a great “girl power” flick despite what was a largely negative critical reception, and we would like to appease those of you who are part of this growing cult following by offering you another examination of it. Enjoy!

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Short Take: Points for solid action and great imagery, points off for lousy writing

Director: Zack Snyder

Screenwriters: Zack Snyder, Steve Shibuya

Cast: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac, Scott Glenn, Jon Hamm, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung

Length: 1h 50m

Synopsis: A newly orphaned girl, nicknamed Baby Doll (Browning), gets forcibly admitted into a psychiatric hospital after she accidentally kills her sister in defending her against their newly appointed legal guardian’s sexual assaults. Her admittance is mainly so her guardian can attain her inheritance, but we see that the grief she has been dealing with is actually beginning to affect her mind. While in the hospital Baby Doll befriends some fellow girl internees nicknamed Rocket (Malone), Blondie (Hudgens), Sweet Pea (Cornish), and Amber (Chung). The girls are forced to work by doing chores around the hospital as well as dance for rich men who come in to see their provocatively choreographed performances. The warden-like boss of the facility, Blue (Isaac), is stunned to see that Baby Doll turns out to be a phenomenal dancer, and plans to make a lot of money off of her shows. However, Baby Doll and the girls have no intention of sticking around any longer and form a plan to break out. It won’t be easy, and with the prospect of freedom comes the risk of death, but the girls push on in hopes of a better life.

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It’s a question that’s plagued me for a while now: whatever happened to big Hollywood movie musicals?  Movie genres typically go through cycles of popularity and I think we’re due for another round of flashy, dance-filled musicals.

Busby Berkley's kaleidoscopic dance numbers, like this one in "Footlight Parade" (1933), helped make American musicals world famous

Musicals have been a long-enduring genre since the early days of film.  In fact, the very first sound film was a musical—1927’s The Jazz Singer.  When it became a runaway success, studios rushed to create more musicals, some of which became the beginnings of a series.  Warner Brothers’ triumph with The Gold Diggers of Broadway led to The Gold Diggers of 1933, which became one of the most celebrated musicals of all time thanks in large part to Busby Berkeley’s intricate choreography.  RKO Radio Pictures first paired dancers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers—who danced together in nine films—in 1933 in Flying Down to Rio, creating arguably the most famous dancing couple in film history.  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released The Broadway Melody in 1929, which not only started a series but also won the Academy Award for Best Picture.  As time went on, production companies made more and more musicals until the genre reached its greatest popularity in the 1940’s and ‘50s.

Though many studios made musicals during that time, MGM arguably became the company most associated with producing expensive, opulent and immensely successful musicals.  They produced Easter Parade, Summer Stock, An American in Paris, Singin’ in the Rain, The Band Wagon, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Guys and Dolls, as well as numerous others.  Those films were a mixture of song and dance and while they weren’t exactly realistic, they were always entertaining. MGM musicals have always been my favorites and when I think of the kind of musicals I’d love to see now, I imagine huge productions with the same glamour and spectacle as MGM’s greatest musicals.  I’m talking musicals with big, expensive set pieces and extended dance sequences with dancers wearing costumes of every conceivable color.  I’m talking great songs that not only convey exactly what the character feels, but are also catchy and make the audience want to sing along.

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