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 Gigi 

What grade would you give this film?
A 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
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C 100%  100%  [ 1 ]
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 Gigi 
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Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:01 pm
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Post Gigi
Gigi

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Gigi is a 1958 American musical film directed by Vincente Minnelli. The screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner is based on the 1944 novella of the same name by Colette. The film features songs with lyrics by Lerner; music by Frederick Loewe, arranged and conducted by André Previn.

In 1991, Gigi was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The American Film Institute ranked it #35 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions. The film is considered the last great MGM musical and the final great achievement of the Freed Unit, headed by producer Arthur Freed, although he would go on to produce several more films, including the musical Bells Are Ringing in 1960. The film was the basis for an unsuccessful stage musical produced on Broadway in 1973.

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Wed Feb 06, 2008 7:28 am
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C+


My first thought after having seen this movie was: how the hell could it win 9 Oscars in a complete clean sweep?! I mean, there's no arguing that in the technical department the movie is aces. The art direction and the costume design are great, lush and probably very deserving of the awards they got. Maybe the score too, but seriously Best Picture and Director?! That's really reaching. In fact, Ggi, while not a bad movie is certainly one of the worst BP winners I have seen to date. I simply fail to realize what it is that suposedly makes it outstanding and enchanted the Academy voters.

The story is pretty simple: a playboy in Paris gets tired of the Parisian society life and eventually falls for a young girl who is trained by her Aunt and her Grandma to become a dame of society and basically a courtesane. Of cvourse there are obstacles in the way, but we all know how it ends. Oh and it's a musical too.

Maybe I would have liked this more if it had not been a musical. I must say that recently I found myself liking quite a few more musicals, than I'd have actually expected. I love Moulin Rouge and Singin' in the Rain and I actually like Chicago a lot too, though it maybe didn't exactly deserve to win Best Picture. Gigi, however, fails to me as a musical mostly. You know what constitues for a good musical? When you can still hum the songs even months after having seen the film. It's the case for me with Singin' in the Rain and Moulin Rouge and it was this way with Chicago too (though it's long ago that I've seen it). Gigi doesn't really have any memorable singin' sequences and dancing is almost non-existant anyway. The best song and probably my single favorite moment in the entire movie is probably Maurice Chevalier's "I Remember Well". Fits the scene very well and is quite funny in the context. The opening song is decent too, but all the rest is forgettable, including the Oscar-winning song "Gigi".

The cast does a decent job acting as well as singing, but no one really stands out. Considering Gigi is the title character, I was susprised to see that she doesn't even have the most screentime in the film. In fact, I'd say Louis Jourdan's Gaston was the movie's primary focus. The best interaction in the film s between Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold in the aforementioned "I Remember It Well"-scene.

The techs were all top notch, as I said before and the movie is a decent watch overall. It's just that apart from the techs nothing stands out at all, especially not the song sequences which is tragic for a musical like this. The ending is waaayy too sudden, some of the singin' is downright creepy ("Thnk God for Little Girls"?!) and the story doesn't offer anything we haven't seen before and better.

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Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:37 pm
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Post Re: Gigi
it is on my tv right now and REALLY annoying me


Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:25 pm
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Post Re: Gigi
I've been warning everybody against this for years. And I usually like Vincente Minnelli movies by default.

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Sun Mar 28, 2010 10:22 am
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