An American In Paris (1951)

Another good musical from the 50’s i enjoy is An American in Paris. Well, what can i say? The song was written by Gershwin brothers and the dancing part was coreograph by Gene Kelly himself. Directed by Vincente Minelli. Well, compared to another Kelly’s movie like Singing in The Rain (well, i love that one too) there are some parts from An American in Paris is better than Singing in the Rain. Well i actually confused which one is better because both were toooo good! 

Henri, Jerry and Adam do a number By Strauss

The movie opens with a lines from each of the male character perspective, telling about themselves. Jerry Mulligan the painter, Adam Cook the pianist and then Henri Baurel the gentlemen.  The director had a persistence way in telling each of the changes of perspective yet,  it all come back to 3rd person’s view.  Gene Kelly played as  Jerry Mulligan, the leading character. I always remember his first line : “This is Paris. And i’m an american who lives here”.  Jerry was an ex G.I. When the war is over he decided to stay in Paris to become a painter.  An American In Paris had few good lines like : “Brother if you can’t paint in Paris, you better give up and marry the boss’ daughter”  or “Let’s just say I’m old enough to know what to do with my young feelings”.  

But this one’s probably the best :

“I don’t want you to discuss my work, i’m not interested in your opinion of my work. If you say something nice it won’t make me feel any better, if you don’t it’ll bother me. Thank you. Good day.”

- Jerry Mulligan

Alright so, back to the plot. For short, the three man met at the cafe below Jerry’s apartment. Jerry was introduced to Henri by Adam. Jerry was on his way to sell his painting, later he met a gal and managed to get to know her. Her name is Lise,  she was 19 year old in the movie. Boy i’m 19 ._.  Lise was played by Leslie Caron. I really like her face and her dancing. Jerry didn’t know at the time that Lise was actually Henri’s fiancee. He was devastated when he knew Lise was going to leave him.  

ever meet a folks trying get to know you this hard? nah, don't think so

The Musical Number

Compared to Singin’ In The Rain, An American in Paris might have a too much portion of musical number in the movie (except for the An American in Paris ballet in the finale) that could make you boring.  But it all pay off with songs from Gershwin brothers plus Kelly’s Coreograph in “By Strauss”, “Our Love is Here to Stay”,  “I Got My Gal (who can ask for anything more)”, “S’ Wonderful” etc. The best number i think was the duet ballet in "Our Love is Here to Stay". Leslie Caron was just perfect in playing her character. 

and then sealed it..... with a kiss 

An American In Paris Ballet

This one’s is probably the best feature to put in the finale. I love the fact that it was captured beautifully so the audience can enjoy the show like we’re watching a ballet show live not through a motion picture.  The plot for the ballet itself was actually quite random because it didn’t have an actual story behind it. It was just Jerry’s fantasy when Lise leave him for Henri. So yes, it was random. But beautifully random. 

Jerry and Lise in silhoutte

here's a link to see An American In Paris Ballet 

La Strada (1954)

i suddenly wanna write about 1954 La Strada, an italian classic when one of my friend ask me whether i knew any european films with a patriachy in its story. well, little did i know patriarchy is about male dominations over women which been rooted in a society throughout time all over the world. Directed by Frederico Fellini, La Strada tells the story about a heartbreaking girl named Gelsomina (Giulletta Massina) whose been forced to come with her sister's husband, Zampano to help with his work. While he give 10.000 lire to Gelsomina's mother in exchange. Zampano's is a solo street performer, later he join with the circus. In other words, Gelsomina's mother had sold her daughter to a circus man. 

poor Gelsomina

Nah, i'm not gonna rip the whole story here. But i think, La Strada is the best examples of european films. Being black and white is just a bonus. La Strada means The Road, in English. The theme song was beautiful too, especially the Trumpet solo part. Of course, Nino Rota wrote that symphony. Every single things were in the right composition to present a one melancholy motion picture at a time.

 Gelsomina's playing the La Strada theme song

So, where's the patriarchy?

The whole films were about Zampano's domination over Gelsomina. Whether its about his job which he could loose a hooked chain with his only chest, which, caused him a big ego of a strong man. The leading lady character too was weak and had a lost, confused look on her face all the time. She runaway once, but when Zampano found her, he beat her. Gelsomina's twice had a clean opportunity to runaway from Zampano, but she decided to stay. Not because she's afraid, but she's remembered what her dear friend Il "Matto" from circus said Zampano wants to keep her, because she must be good at something. 

The loveliest scene

Gelsomina eventually stays with Zampano, hoping for a romance along the way. She never realize that the only one she got was Il "Matto" until he died when he's got in a fight with Zampano. In the end, Zampano left her in a side of the road in a cold winter because she's feeling too depressed after Il Matto's dead. She didn't want to eat again, she's just keep saying "Il Matto, he's dead" over and over again when Zampano tries to talk to her. 

The Ending

The ending scene was powerful. The movie ends with sad and drunk older Zampano, walk from the restaurant all the way to the beach in the night. He already knew that Gelsomina was dead five years ago. He walks toward the sea, wash his face and then drop himself in the sand. His look was kinda precious, the moment before he cries. It makes you wondering what's in his mind. I'd love to think that he hear the sound Gelsomina's playing the theme song with her trumpet. Even though its actually the waves.

older, regretful Zampano