Dignity, always Dignity

This week we watched Singing in the Rain, which I must confess I had never seen before that night, and I loved it. After the movie I just felt happy. The movie has all the ingredients to put you in a good mood (well, me anyway): bright colors (Technicolor could make mud look exciting), upbeat tongue-twister songs, fun dance numbers, quippy dialogue, and then there's all that cinematography, screenplay, and sound editing stuff that helps too.

The cinematography and editing in Singing in the Rain seems to focus on making everything as smooth and seamless as possible to enhance that comfortable, entertaining, show-like quality surrounding the story. The techniques that really stood out to me are the way the dance numbers are filmed in that we (the viewer) are automatically transported to a theatre seat. The spectacular dances are performed as if on a stage and we are watching the show not a screen but on a stage.

Donna mentioned an interesting contrast in class between musicals of this time period (50's) and now. Modern musicals are filmed more like music videos than the theater show style of earlier musicals. I've noticed before how movies like Moulin Rouge and Sweeney Todd have song and dance numbers that have a lot of cuts and editing either to add excitement or to keep the story line going. However, sometimes I get frustrated (this goes for Moulin Rouge more than Sweeney Todd) that I can't just see what's going on. The cuts and flashes and angles and music...I just want to see what they are doing. In saying this, I recognize that the effect behind the sometimes frenzied film editing is to create excitement and emphasize some aspect of the story, but every now and then, I just want to watch someone dance and know that they are dancing rather than doing a lot of quick poses.

I didn't have to worry about seeing dancing in Singing in the Rain. I appreciated the continuity of the dance numbers and even though I only saw a 180* view (of the implied stage) I still felt that I could see everything pertaining to the story. The use of the dolly shots (to the point of going through walls so we don't miss one second of the action) adds to the comfortable flow of the performance scenes.

Along with the show quality of the performances, the fun and light atmosphere the screenplay creates is why I think this movie is loved. The little quips here and there from Cosmo, the playful banter between Kathy and Don on their first meeting, and the jokes floating just above the gorgeous but unfortunate voiced Lina kept me smiling throughout the entire movie. Between the perfectly timed dialogue (unrealistic but whatever) and the happy ending for the happy couple, I couldn't help but feel good after watching it.

The realism of the film, how every character has perfect timing and knows every dance, doesn't bother me like it does in some movies. I think the fun tone of the film recognizes the need for some escapism every now and then.