Bree Salter American Film History Genre Paper 4/12/08 The Musical Genre:
A Comparison of Singin' in the Rain and Moulin Rouge
Baz Lurhmann's contemporary musical, Moulin Rouge (2001), may have been made roughly a half-century after Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly's Singin' In The Rain (1952), but it still demonstrates essentially all of the same generic conventions. While some of these, such as emotionally-charged song and dance routines and showbiz-related plot lines, are kept entirely in tact, Lurhmann gives a modern twist to other staples of the musical genre by utilizing high-tech editing and camera techniques and surprising popular culture references to suit the tastes of contemporary audiences.
There are several conventions of the musical which serve to identify both films unmistakably as members of the genre despite the fifty years which stand between them. For example, the concept of spontaneously bursting into song because of an “intensification of feeling” is seen throughout both films, especially when the characters seem to need a song to express their true feelings to their loved ones (Belton 157). This pattern is observed in Singin' in the Rain when Don (Gene Kelly) needs “the proper setting” to tell Kathy (Debbie Reynolds) how he truly feels and thus does so by singing “You Were Meant For Me” to her on a soundstage. Likewise, when Christian (Ewan McGregor) goes to try and convince Satine (Nicole Kidman) to be with him in Moulin Rouge, they begin to sing the “Elephant Love Medley”, which does all the convincing for him. In both cases, feelings are expressed and reciprocated, and all uncertainty is resolved throughout the course of a single song. Another generic convention that both films share is the “incorporation of performance into plot” (Belton 155). In Singin' in the Rain, both Don and Kathy are singers, dancers, and actors; in Moulin Rouge, Satine is an actress, singer, and dancer,
while Christian is a playwright (Belton 155). The use of theatrical and film productions within the plots of both films make it easier for narrative transitions into spontaneous song and dance to occur.
Contrastingly, one generic convention of the musical which has evolved over the past fifty years is the use of “spectacle” and fantastical visual stimulation (Belton 152). Both Singin' in the Rain and Moulin Rouge are chock full of such spectacle, however they appear in much different forms. In Singin' in the Rain, the audience is mesmerized by the mindbogglingly intricate dance routines performed by Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor. Take for example, O'Connor's three consecutive running back-flips up a wall in the number “Make 'Em Laugh”. This captivating display of athleticism serves to entrance the audience of the musical. The visual spectacle of Moulin Rouge however does not appear solely in the art of dancing, but instead is found primarily in the aspects of mise-en-scene, such as color, sets, costumes, and the fast-paced camera work. For example, in the “Can-Can” number, the camera zooms in and out and rapidly darts through the dancers and the crowd, as the audience is hurtled through the Moulin Rouge nightclub. Our eyes barely have time to adjust to each new image that is flashed on the screen while the wide spectrum of colors displayed on the costumes of the can-can dancers begin to blur. This nearly overwhelming barrage of visual stimulation, like the impressive dance routines of the former film, provides the spectacle aspect of the musical which make it difficult for the audience to tear their eyes from the screen.
Another spectacle-related generic convention of the musical, as explained by Belton, is the moment in which “the characters are momentarily freed from the fictional reality of the narrative and surrender themselves to the fantasy of song and dance” (151). Both films exemplify this concept, most notably for Singin' in the Rain in the “You Were Meant for Me”
number and in Moulin Rouge during the “Elephant Love Medley” number. In the former, Don creates a “technologically created illusion” by utilizing various film techniques, such a fog machine for mist and lights for a sunset, and as the audience watches the character create this fantasy, we are allowed to use our imaginations just as he asks Kathy to do (Feuer 448). A fantastical world is also created in Moulin Rouge, however, by using special effects such as digitally created backdrops and CGI fireworks and twinkly stars, Satine and Christian are actually transported to a magical place. At the end of the number, the camera spins around the couple and right before our eyes, the set of the courtesan's suite transforms into a beautiful display of golden shimmering lights while the cartoon-like moon that the camera pans to “outside” in the computer-generated sky, sings the final note of the song. Because of the advancement in technology, Luhrmann is able to actually produce the “fantasy of song and dance” in a more visually tangible way, whereas Donen and Kelly allow the characters and the audience to essentially create their own fantasy.
The references to popular culture in Moulin Rouge also serves as a vehicle to expand on generic conventions that were utilized in Singin' in the Rain. One example of this is the use of “popular songs...to express...emotions of the musical film genre” (Feuer 443). In the case of Singin' in the Rain, the filmmakers purchased the “song catalog of [the]songwriting team” Freed and Brown and would use the songs to fit whatever emotion or situation they were trying to convey in the plot (Feuer 443). Baz Lurhmann took this idea of using popular culture to aid plot development a step further by creating surprising medleys of popular songs from a range of genres such as '70s rock (The Police's “Roxanne”), '80s pop (Madonna's “Material Girl”), and even classic musical standards (Julie Andrews “The Sound of Music”). By using excerpts from such a wide variety of songs, Lurhmann creates a unique melting pot of a musical experience
that keeps the audience guessing as to what will come next. Furthermore, the songs are used in unexpected ways and often against what they were originally intended to be about. For example, the line “Here we are now, entertainers” from Nirvana's teen angst grunge classic “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is sung by a dancing troop of Parisian men at the Moulin Rouge in reference to watching the courtesans perform in the nightclub. The constantly unpredictable soundtrack to the film sets it apart from other films in the genre such as Singin' in the Rain which to take the more predictable route of having more generalized pre-written songs to essentially suit their every need.
Another way in which popular culture affected a generic convention in Moulin Rouge is in the realm of casting. The main actors/dancers in Singin' in the Rain, Gene Kelly and Donald O' Connor, were both already well known for their dancing in other musicals of the era. Their dancing ability was also of great importance because two aspects that “historically defined the American musical film, [are] the musical in which the dancer-choreographer himself was a participant...and the theme of the individual energy of the dance” (Braudy 670). Though the actors in the film are a triple threat, dancing is the primary focus. On the other hand, in Moulin Rouge, the casting choices are somewhat surprising seeing as neither Ewan McGregor or Nicole Kidman were known for their singing nor their dancing abilities. However, they are both hailed for their acting abilities, and as a result, it is the dramatic acting which takes more of the focus of the film. By having big name actors with “acting chops” in Moulin Rouge, Luhrmann was able to pull off the darker and grittier elements of the film, such as betrayal, the attempted rape of
Satine, and Satine's tragic death scene. In contrast, Singin' in the Rain is often considered to be a “delightful piece of fluff” because of the joyful dancing and thus its seeming lack of depth (Feuer 443). Lurhmann's departure from the typically “light” entertainment of the musical is another
way in which Moulin Rouge is an evolved form of the musical genre. This difference may be because contemporary audiences are more comfortable with the idea of dramatic acting than they are with spontaneous eruptions of dance, whereas with the popularity of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in the '40s and '50s, dancing was much more familiar and therefore popular.
It seems to me that the main reason for these differences between the classic Hollywood musical and the contemporary musical is that both films reflect media trends of their era. The technology used in Singin' in the Rain was modern at the time as they utilized that era's
advancements in technology to create “elaborate moving-camera effects” in addition to the use of “high-angled color musical numbers” that were popular in Busby Berkeley musicals of the '30s (Feuer 447). Likewise, modern audiences of the “MTV” generation are used to watching quick-paced editing and music video style shooting which is reflected in the near-frantic camera movements and unusual editing techniques, such as speeding up or slowing down bits of action, used in Moulin Rouge. Furthermore, popular culture of the '50s made the familiar and therefore comforting songs and actors of Singin' in the Rain a success whereas in our modern society of iPods, MP3s, and the Internet, Moulin Rouge tailors the musical genre towards contemporary audiences that have essentially developed media-inspired Attention Deficit Disorder, as we constantly need to be surprised, engaged, and kept on our toes to suit our ever-evolving tastes. Despite these differences between the two, they both serve the primary function of a musical -- to entertain -- and the result is spectacular.
Works Cited
Belton, John. American Cinema American Culture. 2nd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2005. Braudy, Leo. “Genre: The Conventions of Connection”. Film Theory and Criticism. 1976. Feuer, Jane. “Singin' in the Rain”.
