Songs and Dances in Comedy, Drama, Horror and WarJun 22 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Musicals are a terrific genre, and I love many of them. Here are movies that are worth checking out for their musical interludes, or to introduce you to musicals.
I hope this doesn’t count as off-topic. My intentions are to write about the Ten Best Song Moments in a Non-Musical Film. My girlfriend’s first reaction was “Ooh `Like a Virgin’”, until I patiently pointed out that Moulin Rouge is a musical :). Telling people how great musicals are is really preaching to the choir (no pun intended), as people either like musicals, or they don’t, and I didn’t see the point in reaffirming the greatness of ten films to people who already knew it. I wanted to write about moments that could help bring over non-musical-lovers. I couldn’t find any other place to submit such an epinion, so here it is. (anyway, if submitting the ten most awful films ever as the top ten tear-jerker moments is okay, I’m sure I won’t be treated too harshly :) ) [A word of warning – Moments #4 and #2 reveal MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR details about those particular movies' plots/endings. You have been warned.] 10) “Miss Celie’s Blues” in The Colour Purple From memory, Shug Avery’s first line to Celie is “You is uuugly!” (or words to that effect). Later, she sings a song of pure beauty dedicated to her. In the story, the song signifies Celie’s first true friend since her sister was taken away, and helps her find herself, as Mister prevented her from ever expressing herself. From a musical point of view…. It’s hard to write about it. It begins with humming, because no words could give those notes the right feeling. Celie sits in the bar, shy, and Shug singles her out and begins to uncover her personality. I betcha think I don’t nothin’ But singin’ the blues Oh, sister, have I got news for you I’m somethin’ I hope you think that you’re something too … So let me tell you somethin’, sister, Remember your name No twister, gonna steal you’re stuff away My sister, Sho’ ain’t got a whole lot of time So shake your shimmy, sister Cos honey, this Shug is feelin’ fine Those words are so simple. But so important. Shug always calls Celie “sister”, trying to make Celie feel totally at ease with her; “Remember your name” tells her not to forget about her own sister, and to never forget about herself. The most important lines are “I’m somethin’/I hope you think that you’re somethin’ too”, that jumpstart Celie’s self-esteem. We see Celie begin to light up from this moment, but we also hear a beautiful piece of music. 9) “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2 I hope this counts as characters singing. It is definitely meant to be Jessie the Cowgirl singing, even if you don’t see her actually sing the song. Anyway, this is the most heartwrenching song I can remember in any movie. The song is unbelievably sad, but not overly saccharine. Every word of Randy Newman’s comes right from Jessie’s heart, but she isn’t looking for sympathy when she sings it. She’s looking to make Woody realise that she knows what he’s talking about with his child, Andy. If she had been trying to get sympathy, I would call the song manipulative and overdone. But Randy Newman and singer Sarah McLauchlan know that all they need do is play the sad song over pictures of Emily and Jessie playing, before Emily begins to forget about Jessie, and it brings us to tears. A truly beautiful song, it gets me every time. 8) “Bohemian Rhapsody” in Wayne’s World Something a little cheerier. This counts as the second most ridiculous song of these ten. Nothing to do with plot, or character or anything else, really, Wayne and his group put on the tape and start lip-synching to the song. (I know this doesn’t really count as them singing, but can you deny that this is one of the top ten songs in a non-musical?) All that happens is that we realise they love the song, and that the group has sung along like this hundreds of times before. Then comes the headbanging. The group all has long (mostly clean) hair, and they begin moshing in the car, spraying hair all over the place. On the surface, it shouldn’t be funny, enjoyable, or at all celebratory. But their love of the song is infectious, paying great homage to a great song. 7) “Sodomy” in Meet the Feebles This song is the most ridiculous. Taking it upon himself to save the show from disaster, Sebastian sings his special song, all about the wonders and pleasure of sodomy: Sodomy You might think it rather odd o’ me That I enjoy the act of sodomy … Thousands more that can’t be named Are fond of getting rimmed Don’t worry about hell No harm will come to your soul We’re not a pentacostal And everybody’s got an arseful SODOMY!!!!!!!! (taste and memory prevent me from going on) He jumps about the stage with various phalluses about the stage, that…spout at the right moments, causing us to laugh and be revolted at the same time. Director Peter Jackson’s early films are a riot in more ways than one (I loved Braindead , but Bad Taste was too disgusting, even for me), and whilst he has matured somewhat ( Heavenly Creatures is a true masterpiece, The Frighteners is underrated), his work has always had a dark sense of humour. Meet the Feebles is a truly disgusting movie, but is absolutely hilarious, well-put-together (on a shoestring budget), and this is probably the high point. The song is hilarious, but the crowd’s reaction is even better. 6) Babe I don’t know what the song is called, but you know the one I mean: If I had words to make a day for you I’d sing you a morning golden and true I would make this day last for all time Then fill the night full in moonshine Farmer Hogget sings it to Babe, and it has the second most uplifting effect of any song sung by a character onscreen (for the first, see Moment #4). Babe has just found out that pigs are kept to be slaughtered, and unsurprisingly is just a little depressed :). But in song, Farmer Hogget tells Babe that he loves him as any of his pet dogs, and that he is one pig who will not be eaten. The moment is first uplifting, then funny as Hogget dances about the house, then hilarious as he looks around to see the farm animals staring at him. Babe suddenly feels great, and so do we. 5) “Seems Like Old Times” at the END of Annie Hall Diane Keaton as Annie sings this song twice in the movie. The first time, we see her, and she sounds great, and Paul Simon comes along offering a recording contract. We think we’re done with it. But Woody had bigger intentions with the song. Annie Hall has the best ending to a romantic comedy I’ve ever seen, partly because of “Seems Like Old Times.” As Annie sings, we have the falling-in-love montage that we’ve seen in many romantic comedies. But unlike most of its kind, the montage is at the end, and it is sour – as we see Annie and Alvy enjoying each other’s company, we know their relationship is doomed to fail, even though they were perfect together. Sure enough, we see them get impatient and annoyed with each other. Then Alvy has a final speech, about the relationship, while the song still plays (gaining in meaning). After Annie walks away, he lingers, then resigns himself to being single again. He tells the brilliant old joke about a chicken, and then the song finishes. A flawlessly bittersweet ending – poignant, funny and sad, with the perfect song. 4) “Tiny Dancer” in Almost Famous All right – you knew this was coming. I didn’t know this song existed until I saw the movie. I’m not a big fan of Mr Reginald Dwight, and I don’t think this is his best (that award goes to the original “Candle in the Wind”), but of all his songs, it’s the one I take most pleasure in. I own the soundtrack, and listen to the CD constantly. If I hear the song on the radio, it’s not “Tiny Dancer”, but the song from Almost Famous . It fits the scene so perfectly, that Reggie could have written it for the movie. It has transcended its origins. Cameron Crowe knows music so well – here he picked a song that was guaranteed to pull people together after arguments, ego battles and angry silences. Onscreen, it captures pure happiness, rejoicing in friends, wondering at life…. When this movie has fully gained cult status, I can see people singing along at the midnight showings. [I don’t think Almost Famous counts as a musical, even if it was partly about music. If you disagree…tell me! :)] 3) “Singin’ in the Rain” in A Clockwork Orange One of the most shocking moments on film is when Alex and his droogs happily invade a writer’s house, merrily start beating the writer, and cheerfully strip and rape his wife. What makes it all the more horrifying is that, instead of just going about it, Alex sings a great song whilst going about it. He takes pleasure in it. He whacks the writer with his cane or kicks him in time to the music, fully aware of what he is doing. And just in case we’re in pure disbelief (which isn’t hard to feel in this great movie) Dim tries to sing along, with his limited knowledge of Gene Kelly’s work. Stanley Kubrick takes a horrible idea, makes it even more horrible (the song isn’t in the book), and makes it somehow enjoyable, because Alex’s attitude is infectious. To think, this was the only song Malcolm McDowell (Alex) knew all the words to. 2) “Lullaby for Rosemary’s Baby” Of all the haunting melodies ever written, this really gets me. I could go to sleep to it and fear secure, but hear it played over my worst nightmares. It is a soft, soothing song, sung by a loving mother to her baby, in the beginning of the film. We don’t hear it again until the end, and nothing is changed with the actual song, but the circumstances, and feel of it are different. This is the same mother, but now she is singing to Satan’s child, having said “You’re trying to get me to be his mother”. And yet the song is so beautiful and haunting. I believe it inspired the end of Metallica’s “The Memory Remains”, but they got someone with a raspy voice to sing their version. To me, it is much more effective for the loving mother to sing, rather than for Rosemary to have a demonic voice. I need to believe in her, and that somewhere, there lies a discarded ending, in which she takes the baby and throws it out the window. But Roman Polanski won’t let me do that. 1) The ending of Paths of Glory In a pub, with loudmouthed French soldiers wanting some amusement, a German girl is brought out to entertain them. They jeer, they shout, they want her to strip. She does something else – she starts to sing for them. I speak German, but have no idea what the poor lady is singing, and neither do the French soldiers, and it doesn’t matter. It affects me (and them) terribly. The men realise how they’ve just treated an innocent. She wins them over through her courage – she is scared as hell, but keeps her dignity, as her voice gets louder, but she is never comfortable. The girl is shamed and then redeemed, the men are redeemed but about to be sent back to the front to die, humanised. Paths of Glory is an excellent film, but those last three or four minutes elevate it to sheer greatness. There are a few things I left out. “Paradise City” in Can’t Hardly Wait got nominated at some point, as did “Sugarhigh” from Empire Records . The Lady Vanishes wasn’t ever really in the running. Neither was Casablanca, , nor the drinking songs in Jaws , but I would might have included “Berserker” from Clerks for a laugh. Children of a Lesser God unfortunately had to be left out, as did the end of Life of Brian , and “Tomorrow” from Dave . I would have loved to include “Build me up Buttercup” from There’s Something About Mary , but it was disqualified – because it didn’t count as characters just bursting into song. The sexual identity trio Chasing Amy, The Crying Game and Boys Don’t Cry were all eliminated in the final round of voting. I thought about the ending of Full Metal Jacket , but decided that having two Kubrick films was enough. I also wanted to put in “The Kangaroo Hop” from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother , but found it hell to write about. What would you rather – I spent our time telling you why I love Nashville, Cannibal, Gold Diggers of 1933, The Wizard of Oz, Singin’ in the Rain, Cabaret, The Pirates of Penzance, Beauty and the Beast, West Side Story, and The Muppet Movie (among many others), or that I helped introduce a different kind of musical film?  |
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