Musical Movie

 

Among the film industry, musical has been a popular and successful genre. Musical movies possess a deep and alluring charm created by a combination of music, dances, acting and other elements. Here, the introduced movies will be guides of the absorbing musical world.

 

The Young Ladies of Rochefort

Fascinating colors and joyful music, The Young Ladies of Rochefort (Les Demoiselles de Rochefort) is one of the musical movies which represents the brightness of the 60s. Released in 1967, this French movie was written and directed by Jacques Demy and composed by Michel Legrand. This is their second cooperation after their collaboration film in 1964, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Unlike the previous work, which is about a melancholic story of lovers separated by conscription, The Young Ladies of Rochefort talks about the beauty of dreams a person can own and the mystery of coincidences, which only the audience can see.

 

The Story

Delphine (Catherine Deneuve) and Solange (Françoise Dorléac), twin sisters teaching dance and music in Rochefort, search for their ideal lover and dream of going to Paris as a dancer and composer. One day, a carnival group comes to the city, and two workers of the troupe, Étienne and Bill, meet the twin sisters. The boys meet other people in the café owned by Yvonne, the twin’s mother. Some days later, it happens to be that some dancers had left the carnival group, so Étienne and Bill think of Delphine and Solange to perform to replace the vacant act.

 

The Songs

The music in this movie is based on jazz music and has a light, floating feeling in it. Some of the songs are sang by several characters, such as “Simon’s Song” and “Yvonne’s Song” with only slight difference of lyrics. Several reprises of songs appear in the film too. The music and songs help giving a connection between characters and giving more information to understand them. The famous song, “A Pair of Twins” with catchy melody might stuck in your head for a while…

 

The Dance

 Not only the music, but also the dance has a role to create gay, dynamic atmosphere in the story. The beginning of the film starts with numerous dancers dancing on a ship, in the street and other places. With an instrumental arrange of the songs that will appear later, dancers in bright-colored clothes introduce the movie to the audience. The dancing scenes are reflections of the characters, and the dance between the female and male characters are romantic and sweet as their relationship.

 

Things I like

The bright colors and the daily life in a city in France give an exotic feeling. Gene Kelly, who plays an American visiting his old friend, dances splendidly and shows a perfect image of a handsome American visiting France.

The love story does not occur only with Delphine and Solange, and seeing the unexpected meeting of related people is very impressive

The Greatest Showman

“The Greatest Showman” is an original musical film about P.T. Barnum, the greatest showman on earth in a 19th-century who founded a circus troupe. Phineas Taylor Barnum was known for his hilarious “horror stories” (hoaxes) and for founding a circus (later Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus).

The original title of this work, “The Greatest Showman,” was taken from “The Greatest Show on Earth,” which Barnum staged.

P.T. Barnum

 

Hugh Jackman plays P. T. Barnum, and his partner Philip is played by Zac Efron.

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who won an Academy Award and many other music awards for their work on “La La Land”, wrote all 11 songs used in the film. “This is Me,” the theme song for “The greatest showman,” won the 75th Golden Globe Award for Best Theme Song in a Motion Picture.

It also spent six consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the U.K. album charts and is said to be the first time since 2009’s “Hannah Montana the Movie” that a soundtrack from a non-sequel film has reached No. 1. The popularity of the album was not limited to the U.S., as it reached No. 1 in 60 countries on the overall iTunes chart, and in Japan, it reached No. 1 on the Oricon digital album ranking.

Synopsis

PT Barnum, an unemployed and impoverished visionary, becomes popular for his unprecedented show, turning the disabilities of people known as “freaks” into personalities. He then struggles to put on the biggest show on earth in New York City.

~What I love about~
 Message

This film gives us a positive message about the importance of family and that we do not have to deny ourselves even if we are different from others. It is a film that gives us courage and reminds us of the essential value of human beings while depicting the suffering and struggle of people discriminated against and suppressed because of their status, race, or appearance. I believe that this image overlaps with that of many people in the real world, and it touches people’s hearts. I think the story of how Burnham comes to realize “what is truly important” is also a highlight of the film. The more he pursues his ideals, the more he loses sight of the world around him, which makes the viewer think about what is “truly important.

Music

The impressive music and encouraging lyrics that make you want to clap your hands unintentionally make the film even more appealing.

Camera Work

Not only the music but also the powerful camera work on the 19th century New York streets and at the circus is part of the film’s charm. All the seats on the screen are stylish and glamorous, including the train ride to England, the drinking scene at the tavern, and the rooftop of the apartment building where the Burnham family lives. You get a strange feeling that you are watching a movie, or as if you are watching a stage performance.

A quote from the film

Burnham goes on to praise them as “interesting because they are different from everyone else” and as people with so-called “one-of-a-kind” individuality. (In Japan, this is reminiscent of a line from a poem by Misuzu Kaneko: “Everyone is different, everyone is good.)

“Your success depends on what you do yourself, with your means” P. T. Barnum

“No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else” P.T. Barnum

Incidentally, it seems that Hugh Jackman and director Michael Gressy have stated that they are preparing a sequel. However, the title, release date, etc. have yet to be determined.

Black Music

Rock, R&B, and hip-hop are the most commonly listened to genres of music today. All of them have African-American roots.

In the 17th century, plantations were thriving in the Americas, and many workers were needed to produce tobacco, cotton, coffee, and sugar cane. Slaves, or African-American ancestors, who were forced to migrate from the African continent, were used as cheap labor.

In areas such as Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Georgia, slaves were subjected to harsh working conditions. They were constantly under the watchful eye of plantation owners and were usually flogged if they did not follow discipline.

In this harsh life, the “labor songs” they sang played an important role. Singing not only boosted the morale of themselves and the people they worked with, but also helped them to resolve their anger and frustration at being oppressed.

This is how black music began.

 

【Types of Black Music】

  • Jazz

Jazz music is said to have originated in the black community of New Orleans in the deep south of the United States between the 19th and early 20th centuries, and has its origins in a kind of band music that was initially performed with wind instruments.

おしゃれなだけじゃなかった!ジャズがBGMに最適な4つの理由 | OMISE Lab

  • Blues

This music has been spreading since the 1870s, and is said to have originated in the deep south of the United States. It is a sibling genre of music to jazz, and is thought to have developed from black spirituals and labor songs. One of the characteristics of this music is the use of the guitar.

Blues: dolor, magia y consuelo

  • R&B

R&B is an abbreviation for “Rhythm & Blues”, a music that originated in the black community in the United States in the 1940s. As the name suggests, it is blues-based music with added rhythm, and is sometimes referred to as music that was originally based on jazz, or developed from gospel and soul over time.

R&B(リズムアンドブルース)とはどんな音楽?歴史やソウルとの違いも | | Dews (デュース)

 

There is also a wide variety of other black music, such as gospel, hip-hop, and soul music. In modern times, black music has had a tremendous influence on music not only in the United States, but all over the world.

4 Things You Didn’t Know About Disney Songs

1. The song “Beauty and the Beast” from “Beauty and the Beast” (1991) was recorded in one take.

When Angela Brigid Lansbury, who sang “Beauty and the Beast” in the movie, arrived in Las Vegas to record the song, the director of the movie offered her to record it another day since he thought she must have been tired due to the long flight. But she rejected it, and she amazingly sang it in a single take within the day she arrived. This recording was used for the movie.

2. Songs from the movie “Tarzan” (1999) were made in two weeks.

After A composer Phil Collins signed with Disney, he started reading “Tarzan of the Apes” written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It gave him a lot of inspiration, and he instantly worked on songs for the movie after he finished reading it, and it only took two weeks for him to make the three songs, which are “Trashin’ The Camp”, “Strangers Like Me” “Son of Man”. Furthermore, the other two songs from the movie, “Two Worlds”, “You’ll Be in My Heart” were made while he had a Christmas party.

3.Different movies, same singer.

Disney movie Aladdin (1993) and Mulan (1998) are completely different stories. However, the songs that are in it has a connection. “A Whole New World” from Aladdin and “Reflection” from Mulan are both sang by the same singer, Lea Salonga.

4.“Circle of Life” from Lion King was not the opening of the movie in the first place.

Originally, the movie Lion King(1994) was supposed to start with a conversation. However, when Hans Zimmer and Lebo M listened to “Circle of Life,” they were so astonished that they decided to use the song as the opening of the movie.

Songs that clear Rain on you heart

Rainy season has arrived in Japan. How do you feel during this period?

We guess many people feel quite unhappy and less motivated.

Today we would like to share some songs that could fill your heart with joy and happiness.

1. “Sugar” by Maroon 5

This song expresses the love through sugar.

What we like about this music the most is its music video. In the video, Maroon 5 goes to wedding ceremony as a surprise, which fills the wedding hall with happiness.

This scenery brings joy not only to the people in the video, but also to listeners like us.

2. “Lovers” by Sumika

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFITBgsyVr4)

This is a Japanese song that sings a man’s pure emotion.

Its lyrics and memorable rhythm make us want to meet our loved ones.

3. “Wee woo” by Pristin

Hi! Pristin - Wikipedia

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLfHuClrQdI)

This is a Korean song that expresses the love from woman’s perspective.

The song has both cute and straightforward features, which gives us a positive feeling.

Its fantastical lyrics suggests the image of an innocent girl too.

 

“Music is the universal language of mankind”

(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an American poet)

 

In this article, we introduced three songs from three different countries.

Whether the song is in your mother tongue or not, music itself has some form of message.

We hope our song recommendation helps make you feel better.

Let’s get over with the gloomy days together!