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The big budget musical was once one of the mainstays of the
movie industry. But over the last decade or so, it has gone
out of favour, due maybe to changes in audience interests, or
because studios do not want to risk another loss-making flop.
Perhaps times are changing. Last year, we had the success of
the overly post modern Moulin Rouge. This year, we have Chicago,
which more successfully takes us back to the style of the traditional
movie musical, and proves that there is life in this genre yet.
The story is an old one. Based originally on the real life
story of two female murderers in the 1920s, it has been the
subject of several movies and plays over the years before being
resurrected with spectacular results on the West End and Broadway
in the 1990s. What we now see on the big screen is an adaptation
of this recent stage version. On the surface, the plot revolves
around two women; Roxie Hart (Renee Zellwegger), a wannabe young
starlet who kills her lover when it turns out he has been lying
to her about having influential connections, and Velma Kelly
(Catherine Zeta-Jones), an existing star who kills her sister
and husband when she finds them in bed together. In jail, Roxie
and Velma find themselves competing for the attention of the
Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), the only lawyer with the power to
secure their freedom.
But the threads of the plot are not the important thing here.
The appeal of Chicago has always been the music and underlying
question of the ethereal nature of 'celebrity'. Billy Flynn's
skill lies not with the law, but with his ability to influence
a jury by turning his defendants into media darlings (and in
turn, getting a fair share of the limelight himself). Because
the phenomenon of the flimsy celebrity is every bit as prevalent
now as it was when the story was written (see Popstars, Big
Brother, Anna Nicole Smith, Victoria Beckham etc.....) we see
in Chicago, a reflection of ourselves.
The stars do themselves proud with their suprisingly good performances
in the song and dance department. Zeta-Jones betrays her past
stage experience in spectacular style as the cocky Velma, whilst
Zellwegger seems perfect for the scatty Roxie. Gere appear to
relish the chance to play the over the top Billy, whilst mention
should also be made of Queen Latifah (the mercenary prison warden
Mama Merton), and John C. Reilly (who plays to type as Roxie's
dopey but devoted husband).
Successful stage musicals do not always translate well to the
big screen. This is because the two formats have different strengths
and weaknesses that must be exploited in the right ways. Here,
director Rob Marshall has excelled, by taking advantage of the
fact that film can be edited, to very effectively splice the
musical numbers into the live action in a way that is not possible
on the stage. Although I don't find the Chicago musical numbers
to be great themselves (compared to those in Grease or Les Miserables,
for example), the way they are used in this film is excellent.
Overall, this is about as good a stage-to-cinema adaption as
we have seen for a long time. Hopefully, this will encourage
others to undertake similar projects.
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