Recently, my wife and I have decided to watch a classic movie every week of my choosing. We generally disagree on most movies and have very different tastes, but my hope is that by starting her off with few classic musicals, I could get her interested in a wider variety of movies overall. I decided to start her off with one of my top 10 favorite musicals, Gigi.
The film, set in Paris around the turn of the century, tells the story of a Gigi (played by Leslie Caron), a teenage girl being groomed by her grandmother (played by Hermione Gingold) and her great aunt to be a courtesan. Gigi, a precocious young girl who doesn’t fully understand the world that she is being trained for, is unhappy with her lessons and seems more interested in just having fun while she can. Still, she seems stuck living up to the expectations that her family has set in front of her.
At the same time, Gaston Lachaille (played by Louis Jourdan) has come to be bored with his life in Paris. Even though he is wealthy beyond all reason and constantly being told by his uncle Honore (played by Maurice Chevalier) that he should be enjoying every day, Gaston insists that life has become a “bore.” In fact, the only time that Gaston is happy is when he goes to visit Gigi and her grandmother to play cards and get away from the expectations put upon him. Of course, it is only a matter of time before Gaston starts to see Gigi in a different light…
The film delivers on a variety of levels, starting with the way it looks. The costumes and the cinematography are fantastic, giving the movie a bright and appealing look right from the start. This is no small feat, considering that when filming began the temperatures outside were so unseasonably hot that extras were passing out. It took three days before Minnelli got a usable take of the opening scene, but it is certainly no worse for wear.
It is interesting that, while not nominated for a single acting category, Gigi still went on to win a then-record 9 Academy Awards in 1959, including Best Director and Best Picture. This is surprising, not so much in the fact that Caron and Jourdan aren’t nominated (both are capable in the roles but neither was particularly wowing), but for the fact that Chevalier and Gingold weren’t nominated, which is a travesty. Chevalier is a scene stealer every time he appears in the film, and Gingold is every bit his match when they appear together, especially for the song “I Remember It Well.”
Overall, Gigi is one of the better musicals of the late 50’s, even with the focus being more on music and story than full-blooded singing and dancing. While the story is a little hard to stomach at times, such as when Chevalier is singing “Thank Heaven for Little Girls”, once you look past it and see the love story behind it all, it is truly an exceptional movie.
Your post has been voted as a part of Encouragement program. Keep up the good work!
Boost your earnings, double reward, double fun! 😉
Support Ecency, in our mission:
Hivesigner: Vote for ProposalTry https://ecency.com and Earn Points in every action (being online, posting, commenting, reblog, vote and more).Ecency: https://ecency.com/proposals/141
Did your wife like the movie?
You seem to be in musicals of the 'old' days. Though I may have seen this one a very very long time ago, this is not my most favourite genre. Are you into the early movies by Alfred Hitchcock? Like Rebecca? Or the black humour movies by Charles Chaplin? Like Monsieur Verdoux?
Congratulations @devoran! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out the last post from @hivebuzz: