Chicago - Taking Stage To The Screen
I'm not normally a big fan of attempts to translate stage plays to video. No matter how hard people try, the techniques that make a great stage production just don't translate well to being captured for screen. The results are often even more disastrous when someone takes a musical piece and attempts to adapt it. (There's a reason that "The Barber of Seville" just hasn't made it into movie format...)
So, it was with some trepidation when I tossed Chicago into my laptop to watch the other night. I've heard good things about the show, but that has done little to quell my unease. I must admit that my fears were ill-founded. For once, someone managed to shoot a stage production for the screen, and make it work.
The camera work was outstanding - and actually managed to add something to the experience of watching what was obviously a lot of stage choreography instead of leaving you feeling like you were missing out.
The soundtrack is classic "big-band" style jazz, but well before the days of pure improv. The performances are all wonderfully done - the music's great; the singing's quite enjoyable (I had no idea that Richard Gere could sing - or at least act like he was singing!). The costumes, sets and choreography all were well done, and the "movie" scenes did a nice job of stringing together the musical scenes that carried the real drama.
I may be a few years behind everybody else in getting around to this movie, but it's a rare beast - it actually works on all levels, and doesn't leave you feeling like you missed something important (or the filmmaker did).
So, it was with some trepidation when I tossed Chicago into my laptop to watch the other night. I've heard good things about the show, but that has done little to quell my unease. I must admit that my fears were ill-founded. For once, someone managed to shoot a stage production for the screen, and make it work.
The camera work was outstanding - and actually managed to add something to the experience of watching what was obviously a lot of stage choreography instead of leaving you feeling like you were missing out.
The soundtrack is classic "big-band" style jazz, but well before the days of pure improv. The performances are all wonderfully done - the music's great; the singing's quite enjoyable (I had no idea that Richard Gere could sing - or at least act like he was singing!). The costumes, sets and choreography all were well done, and the "movie" scenes did a nice job of stringing together the musical scenes that carried the real drama.
I may be a few years behind everybody else in getting around to this movie, but it's a rare beast - it actually works on all levels, and doesn't leave you feeling like you missed something important (or the filmmaker did).