Reviews

I must agree with Méliès' granddaughter's description of this film. While there isn't really a plot, the film exudes pure genius in its construction. Although it looks like a single 55-second scene, the film actually combines dozens of snippets of performances and does so amazingly fluidly. The effects in this film could easily be done today using computer graphics, but would have been difficult to achieve before the 1990's. And yet Méliès was able to pull them off almost a century before that.

Although Méliès would later go on to produce some dramatic films, the most famous being his "Trip to the Moon", the pacing and energy of his later works generally fall far short of what he exhibits here. Further, while many of his later films have at least some noticeable mismatch edits or other problems, his technique on this film is perfect. Absolutely amazing.

The concept of having a movie take place in real time is not new, nor is the idea of showing simultaneous action via split screen. Earlier reviewers have mentioned ROPE and A THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR as films which do these things. The idea of doing the simultaneous shoots is new, however, and there are some ways in which it works. The overall effect, however, gets very tiring; this might have worked better as a 60 minute project than a 97 minute one, though the former would be perhaps regarded as not giving audiences their money's worth.

I think I would have liked the movie much better if it were produced somewhat more deliberately. Stage theatrical performances run two hours and up without cuts or retakes, but are well-scripted and rehearsed. Had the script been worked out in more detail, it would have been possible to have simultaneous interesting action in multiple panels without them distracting from each other (see the phone call scene in WHEN HARRY MET SALLY). Even if the final production were done as four separate uninterrupted takes, the movie would have benefitted considerably from staging scenes separately initially and editing a working-print to tweak the timings for everything.

There is much that's neat about this movie. I think if there'd been a real script and inter-panel coordination beyond "time for another pointless earthquake" it might have really been excellent. Unfortunately, having people do fifteen improvised run-throughs is no substitute for having a real screenplay, and the camera work was in many places just plain bad. On the first version this would have been fully excusable, given that there would have been no opportunity to set up shots nor reshoot places that were out of focus, poorly lit, etc. By number fifteen, though, the camera operators should have been able to do things better than they in fact did.

BTW, on my Aiwa DVD player, changing audio panes is quirky: changes to the audio selection don't take effect until one uses 2x forward or reverse and then resumes normal-speed playback. Anyone who has trouble changing the audio should try that. Also, in case the DVD is ever re-released there are two things I'd like to see improved: (1) add subtitles, and (2) allow selection of the release soundtrack when in "interactive" mode.

One point some reviewers seem to have missed is that Chaplin, recognizing that the public wanted to her him sing, also recognized that intelligible speech would destroy the Tramp. So he set the stage for the Tramp to sing plausible-sounding gibberish. During the song, his acting was of the sort one would expect from a silent actor, not a singing one. His song was thus a parody of the emerging talkies.

While not the first movie I've purchased for myself, this is almost certainly the one I've watched the most. The animation is well-drawn by the experts at Tokyo Movie Shinsa, and the animators frequently made use of clever techniques such as having the sun cause "lens flare", having the camera get soaked (and having the "camera operator's hand" clean the lens!) etc. While the film avoided becoming a an "animator's gadget-fest", the judicious but generous application of such techniques gave the film a much more "realistic" feel than the typical cartoon.

The story has many interweaved plots which don't seem to have much to do with each other until everything comes together at the end, in a manner even the writers self-effacingly admit is contrived. Each of the major plot lines has its own musical theme, ranging from "Pop goes the weasel" [Hamton & Plucky], to the love theme from "Romeo and Juliet" [Fifi & Johnny]. The transitions between plotlines are slightly varied, but consistent.

Truly a wonderful film; there isn't much original music, though the new lyrics to "Spinning Song" are clever and enjoyable. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

This is truly a wonderful movie. It manages to capture very well the spirit of the Broadway show while having a fluid style of filmmaking unlike just about any other film. The people responsible for the sets, the camerawork, the acting, and the music/lyrics all deserve an amazing amount of credit for having everything pull together so amazingly.

One of the most notable things about this film, compared with many, is that many of the sets are continuous from exteriors to interiors. In most movies, the exterior shots and interior shots are set on different sets, requiring a cut any time a character goes through a doorway. Here, the camera can start on a character who's outside and either follow the character inside or retreat inside while the character follows (as in the intro to the dentist's song). The film has a lot of long (in duration) shots which really help hold it together. For example, near the end of "Somewhere that's green", the camera shows Audrey insider her apartment closing her magazine three lines from the end of her song. The camera then, in a continuation of that same shot, pulls back out the window and travels up and to the left where the chorus starts in their next song and completes the first verse of it before there's a cut. Other memorable long-lasting shots include Audrey's talk with Semour after Mr. Mushnik yells at him for forgetting Ms. Shiva's flowers, and the last few lines of "Suddenly Semour" where the camera ascends the stairs in front of Semour and pans around as Audrey and Semour embrace.

My one criticism of the film itself is the addition of foul language in the new song "Mean green mutha' from outer space". While much of the song is clever, I found the language offensive and unnecessary.

Finally, I'd like to recommend that anyone considering watching this film see it on DVD if at all possible. The narrow frame of VHS (or 16mm prints, which is how I first saw this movie) really detracts from much of the filming. Additionally, the supplemental materials on the DVD are interesting and informative. My biggest complaint with the DVD is that I would have liked to have had the original ending included in the supplemental materials. Earlier editions of the DVD included it, but apparently the producer objected so later versions left it out. Too bad since, as a fan of the musical, I would have enjoyed seeing how the film handled the ending.

On a parting note, while I'm hardly fluent in French I do know it somewhat; while the French subtitles and dubbed soundtrack don't quite agree, I did find some parts interesting. Some examples:

"Downtown... down on skid row" becomes "Our home... in our neighborhood."

"Far from skid row, I dream we'll go somewhere that's green" becomes (on audio/subtitles) "Far from our neighborhood/hell, I dream we'll make a little green nest."

Highly recommended film. A++++++++