Rent (2005 movie)

[oyceter]

YAY! I finally got to see my musical! The sad thing was, it hasn't even been out a full month or so, and it's already only in one theater in the area =(.

I have complete, unabashed, totally uncritical adoration of this movie! It is my musical! On large screen! Soon to be preserved in a format that I can rewatch it over and over and over without booking seats and paying $60!

I do realize that Rent has a rather romantic view of the starving artist and bohemian poverty and rebellious behavior and an uncomplicated view of business and corporate America. And that it doesn't particularly tackle social issues surrounding AIDS. But... I still love it! I don't care! I love that it has its giant, bohemian heart on a sleeve, I love that it's earnest and optimistic and idealistic, that it's about connecting and risking emotional involvement.

I also like that there's a gay couple, a lesbian couple, and a straight couple, and that they all have emotional weight, as opposed to the non-straight couples being played for comedy. And I like that all the couples are interracial and that it's not a big deal! And that the rich, upper-middle-class characters are both black, and that that's also not seen as strange. And that everyone is ok with Angel being a crossdresser.

Well, Roger and April aren't interracial. But I'm pretty sure Benny and his wife are, given that his investor/father-in-law is white. But yes, I like that I have to sit back and think to see if I can find a non-interracial couple.

And I am so, so very glad that the movie kept the original cast, basically, and that they didn't try to make Mimi white or whatnot when they recast her. Yeah, it's not race-blind casting, but it is so good to see a cast on screen that doesn't just have token minority characters.

And hey, all this is secondary because the story totally gets me every time. And music!

I realized while I was watching that I've gotten used to musicals being told in the Brechtian manner instead of the integrated style of Rodgers and Hammerstein, where the musical sections feel very deliberately staged and meta and set apart from the story. Rent doesn't do that; while there is a bit of staging/dream sequence involved, mostly it just seems to posit that, well, people are just naturally breaking out into song. It took a while to get used to, but by the end, it felt completely natural to have people singing. Although, hrm, I'd love seeing a Brechtian version of Rent on film, just because I love bits and pieces in the musical like people singing to the answering machine.

But! They have bits I love and I love the music and they were singing on screen! Yay! I love musicals ^_^.

Comments

[oyceter]

I don't mind either, and I like the stage tricks of Chicago, especially given that on stage, it's even more staged and surreal. It was rather odd seeing Mark singing on the bike the first time, but it really worked at the end.

On the other hand, I adore the meta-ness of other musicals and the staging and the way people arrange them, so both work for me!

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, I definitely agree that the meta framework worked perfectly for Chicago, particularly since I had no clue how they would ever put it on film when I first heard about the movie, because it's such a stagey seemingly uncinematic show. And I thought they did a great job. At the same time, though, I just think it's really neat that Hollywood is still willing to make a movie musical where there's no explanation for why the characters are singing. The audience just has to accept it and move on (or not, I guess!), especially since a number of reviews when Chicago came out wondered if a "traditional" musical was possible on film today. Heh, not that Rent is exactly "traditional" in subject matter!