Modern critics often lament the fact that the movie musical is a dead genre, even though not only do film studios continue to produce musicals, but some of the most innovative ones ever to be put on film were done so within the last thirty years. The following is the third and final in a three part series, a guide to ten of the best musicals ever to grace the silver screen. What all ten have most in common, besides a propensity for the characters to break into song, is that all were made long after the so-called Golden Age of the movie musical had long passed.
Across the Universe
Julie Taymor, known for her visually opulent theatre pieces, such as the Broadway version of Disney’s The Lion King, took the simple concept of making a “jukebox musical” of the Beatles song catalogue and created a work of art. Though it is a flawed masterpiece (its plot threads grow unwieldy at times, causing some of the characters to, at times, get lost in the shuffle), Across the Universe is a masterpiece nonetheless: a visual and auditory tour through the Sixties, including some wonderfully psychedelic and opulent musical numbers, including strawberry bombs exploding over Vietnam in “Strawberry Fields Forever.” What is perhaps most surprising is how well the Beatles songs work as character pieces. Many of the songs really feel as if they were written for this film. It really makes one appreciate not what great songwriters the Beatles were, but what great storytellers, as well.
Hairspray
Hairspray, Adam Shankman’s movie musical based on the stage musical, which in turn, was based on the original non-musical John Waters film from 1997, was one of the surprise hits of 2007. Featuring John Travolta as a zaftig housewife (yes, you read that right) and newcomer Nikki Blonsky as Traci Turnblad, a chubby teenage girl in the 1960s who, in her quest to be cast on an American Bandstand-style show, inadvertently jump-starts the civil rights movement, proved that campy fun and depth of character are not mutually exclusive concepts. Add to that some extremely cleverly choreographed numbers that wisely spin the songs off to wildly different directions than their stage counterparts, and you have a musical with one of the biggest hearts in Hollywood history.
Moulin Rouge
Directed by visionary Aussie director, Baz Luhrmann, Moulin Rouge is brilliant on every level. Visually, it is a sumptuous, boldly colorful feast with fantastical costumes and sets that conjure up images of late 19th century France, classic cinema, and grand opera. Storytelling-wise, it deals in timeless archetypes of tragic romance, heartsweeping drama, and again, opera. But perhaps most ingenious is the film’s use of anachronistic pop music that stretches throughout the 20th century (songs, for example, by Madonna, The Beatles, not to mention Rodgers & Hammerstein). The film’s central thesis seems to be that the modern equivalent to the classic love story currently exists in pop music, and so the tropes one used to see in musical theatre are now played out on the radio and MTV. Luhrmann wisely takes those songs and transforms them into the equivalent of arias for his epic pop opera, and creating arguably the greatest movie musical of all time. The Police’s “Roxanne” turned into a tango alone is the best musical number ever put to film.
Read more about the best modern musicals here and here.
