I read a few reviews written by people who rated "La La Land" as extremely poor, and the reasons for their dislike are roughly:
1. They don't like musicals, and don't know why they "dance if they disagree";
2. If you don't have such a high level, you can't appreciate elegant art;
3. Question the hypocritical outlook on life and values in the film.
It is true that audiences nowadays rarely see musicals in cinemas, because this type of film is hardly made in China, and the occasional and tentative works have also suffered fiasco (the Chinese version of "High School Musical" was neither well received nor well received. "Happy" adapted from Mo Yan's novel was applauded but not a hit), so no one continued to test the waters; and the introduction of foreign musical films was also cold at the box office, "Moulin Rouge" was hardly watched, and later "Chicago", "Hairspray" ", "Nine", "Funny Show" and other very popular musical and dance films have not been introduced, which has artificially increased the distance between new fans and this type of film.
After the development of sound films, musical films have always been a very popular film type, and they do not match the labels of elegance and niche at all. Although the number of musicals has decreased, the quality has not decreased. There are only a few musicals in Hollywood every year, and each one can attract great attention. So I don't think that musicals are on the decline and become a niche, I believe it's a slow-moving work.
Someone summed up how many classic old films "La La Land" pays homage to. I browsed it, and one of them is "An American in Paris". I have collected this DVD for a long time, but I have never watched it, so I will take the time to enjoy it today. a moment.
The plot of this film is very simple. An American is reluctant to return to China, so he lives in Paris to paint. The people and paintings were bought, and the American agreed half-heartedly, but he was not willing to be a liar, and later seduced his friend's fiancee. After a lot of tossing, the American finally managed to pry away his friend's woman. The rich woman and the friend could only walk away silently with broken hearts.
I believe that if "An American in Paris" is remade and released in 2017, there will be more Chinese fans who hate it, and they will scold it more severely. The values are simply distorted: that male protagonist is too hypocritical! Friend's wife can't be deceived! You ungrateful animal! ungrateful stuff! A pair of scumbags and scumbags! It's true that the plot of the film now seems to be very problematic and uncomfortable. So the director downplayed the plot of the movie with a lot of music, singing and dancing.
The director of the film, Vincent Minnelli, is famous. His wife is Judy Garland and his daughter is Lisa Minnelli - two musical diva! So it is no exaggeration to say that he is the best musical director. He was very bold in his handling of this film, and there were two scenes that were out of breath and had no lines. The first paragraph is an American pianist friend lying in a shabby room imagining that he has become a master and giving a concert. For about ten minutes, there is only a piano symphony, no lines, and it has nothing to do with the movie narrative; the second paragraph is the ending, The American sent his friend's fiancée away on the terrace. He fell into a fantasy and entered an illusory country. He began to dance with a large group of people. He danced for more than 20 minutes, without any lines, and it had nothing to do with the film's narrative. The two scenes together for more than half an hour are purely performances, relying entirely on the charm of music and dance to conquer the audience, which is also very bold today.
The protagonist of the film was the most famous musical star of the time, Gene Kelly, who tap danced in the film. Of course, it seems outdated today, and its charm and attractiveness are greatly reduced (there are many people who criticize "La La Land" for dancing ugly, not to mention old movies. Domestic fans only praise one person for dancing: Xiulan Temple). The rich woman in the film is more beautiful than her friend's wife, which makes people question the aesthetics of the male protagonist. Maybe because the rich woman can't sing and dance, she is not as attractive as a friend's wife. Friend's Wife actor Leslie Cullen is still alive and has become a little old lady, and has recently appeared on TV to promote the new version of the musical version of "An American in Paris", I wonder if she will participate in the role .
I have said so much, and it is estimated that there are not many people who like "La La Land" and follow that index to find all the old musicals that are "tributed" (I have seen almost all of them). Although "An American in Paris" won numerous awards that year, including the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (presumably because of the downplay of the plot), etc., I don't like this movie very much. Maybe it's because the male and female protagonists are too ugly, hehehe (the reason why many people hate "La La Land" is because they don't like the looks of Sister Stone and Gosling, but they need to find someone who can act, sing, dance, and look good. It's very, very difficult to be a good all-rounder). I still like that rich woman (Nina Foch), even though she doesn't play much and doesn't let her sing and dance, she's the most independent, most daring to love and hate woman in the film. Salute to her.
I didn’t mention the most important point. The core of a musical is the creation of music and songs, which is even more important than the director. The helm of this film is the most famous jazz composer George Gershwin. If you don’t know who he is, please Search for Rhapsody in Blue. It's a pity that Heaven is jealous of Yingcai, who was only 39 years old when he died in 1937. "An American in Paris" is an orchestral symphony poem he wrote in 1928 (that is, the music played in the fantasy part of the pianist mentioned above). The film is also interspersed with some of his most classic songs, including my favorite "Love is here to stay", which is touched every time I listen to it, but this has nothing to do with the movie.
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