Wicked Part I

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.8/5)Wicked Part I

Rated: PG

Directed by: Jon M. Chu

Written by: Winnie Holzman

Based on the Musical Wicked, music and lyrics by: Stephen Schwartz,

Book by: Winnie Holzman

From the Novel by: Gregory Maguire

Produced by: Marc Platt, David Stone

Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle and Peter Dinklage.

Cinematic from the beginning, Wicked Part I opens on a black witch’s hat reflected in a pool of water.  And of course, flying monkeys, the yellow brick road, then the cry, ‘The Wicked Witch is dead.  The Wicked Witch of the West.’

‘Why does wickedness happen?’ one of the townspeople asks.

After telling people, ‘It’s good to see me, isn’t it?’  Galinda/Glinda the Good (Ariana Grande) tells the people, let me tell you the whole story.

The screenplay is written by Winnie Holzman who also wrote the book for the musical; she returns with lyricist Stephen Schwartz to adapt the Gregory Maguire’s reinvented bestseller into a spectacle for the screen.  Expectations for this film are high.

However, I admit, I have not seen the stage play.  Not really my cup of tea.  So you can stop reading the review now or read the review of someone who wouldn’t usually watch a musical but enjoyed this one despite herself.

I just got won over by the characters, Galinda described by Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) as well, blonde.

And Elphaba green and pretending not to care about the laughter at her expense.  That she cares more about the animals that are being silenced and blamed for everything wrong in Oz, then her own lifetime of hurt.

Then the little asides from Galinda about her self-obsession to keep it light as the two who loathed and detested each other become friends.

Rather than feeling like just a musical, the singing was balanced by the storyline and visual effects and attention to detail, the turn of a scrunched page the beginning of the next scene, the floating spinning flowers dusting everyone to sleep, the silhouette of a taloned hand.

The previous collaboration of Schwartz and Holzman pays off because the story and song balance each other so well, ‘Winnie and I tell the story together,” Schwartz says. “Some of it through dialogue, which is Winnie’s department, and some through song, which is mine.’

And the two characters Elphaba and Galinda have a genuine chemistry, ‘We got tattoos together,’ Grande says. ‘I got an ‘E’ for Elphaba in a heart on the back of my leg and she had a little ‘G’ for Glinda on the back of hers.’ Erivo says that their bond is anchored by a sense of joyful exploration. ‘I hope that we don’t lose our love of play,’ Erivo says. ‘That’s something that I really enjoyed—this need to keep wanting to learn and discover. Ariana and I used that to make these beings as humane and full as possible. When we worked together, something special happened.’

Cinematographer Alice Brooks explains Elphaba and Glinda are often shot within a single frame. ‘The 2.40 aspect ratio is frequently beautifully divided in half between these two women.’

Brook goes on to say, ‘Light, to me, embodies everything—it reveals desires and conceals secrets. That’s what captivates me about Wicked so deeply. Early in our preparations, Jon and I delved into themes of good versus evil, light versus darkness. In Wicked, light paradoxically represents darkness, and darkness, light.’

Director, Jon M. Chu, a longtime superfan of the stage production, has embraced all the elements of this film, showing his enthusiasm in the attention to detail that makes Wicked Part I so very watchable.

I’m not saying I absolutely loved the film, but those 2 hours and 41 minutes went by pretty quickly.  And I did leave the cinema with a smile humming ‘Defying Gravity.’

Did I just enjoy watching musical?

Yes.  Yes, I did.

 

In The Heights

Rated: PGIn The Heights

Directed by: Jon M Chu

Produced by: Lin-Manuel Miranda

Starring: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Lesley Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphine Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco and Jimmy Smits.

‘I’m home.’

It’s three days until the blackout.  And it’s hot in Washington Heights.

Everyone in the block is fanning themselves as they dream their sueñito: little dream.

Bodega owner Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) dreams of running his father’s beach bar back in the Dominican Republic.

Vanessa (Melissa Barrera) dreams of becoming a fashion designer.

In The Heights is colourful and full of soul, hope and love as everyone fights for their own little dream. And there’s singing.  The entire movie is singing.

I know that it’s a musical.  I’m not saying I completely ignored the advertising.  But when I say the entire movie, I mean there’s signing about everything: coffee, fireworks, all the dialogue.

It took me a good long while to warm up because it was all a bit overwhelming and at the start all I could think was, can you please stop singing!

Then Nina (Lesley Grace), returned-from-college, and boyfriend-left-behind, Ben (Corey Hawkins) start with these absolutely pristine, stunning voices and it all kinda started to click.

The story has layers: the classic making a move when it’s too late, looking everywhere but what’s in front; there’s change and dealing with that change, the struggle to keep working everyday, just to make ends meet; and how some take a run at their dream only to realise it’s not what they really want at all.

Sometimes it’s just about adding details to hold dignity.

Aunt to everyone in the block, Abula Claudia takes the time to share the hardship of her mother travelling to America, to work as a maid, who covered her red worked hands with beautiful velvet gloves because it felt nice to wear those gloves.  She would create something special by stitching intricate patterns into cloth.  To hold dignity in the little things.

And this detail translates into the film itself, a musical not just for show but surprise with all those extra flourishes in the choreography and blending of animation into a scene or to dance on the side of a building to tilt the world, to have bolts of cloth unravel, up in the sky while running so fast underneath.  All these details gave this musical its own dignity.

I admit, I am not a fan of musicals, especially when the characters sing about what they’re doing from one moment to next.  But there’s real beauty here, with just a touch of magic.

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