Jesus what IS the cast of this movie?! What even is it? It gets more and more like a weird fever dream with each announcement. And we still don't know for sure who the likes of Taylor Swift and James Corden are set to play.
With a cast like this, it's making me more and more curious about the movie and how it will play out. Especially with a director like Tom Hooper whose Les Miserables film I actually liked despite some issues.
TotallyEffed said: "Les Miserables was an epic disaster and this will be even worse.
Can’t wait!"
It can't be worse than Les Miserables. If there is any aspect they will treat differently from what they did in that film, it will already be better.
Tom Hooper doesn't understand this artform on film. He doesn't understand the given of sung thoughts on film and the importance of actually combining acting with singing, acting through song. Instead he chose "acting in spite of song". Sometimes even speaking 4 words and use a long vibrato on the 5th. This makes the acting insincere and the singing insincere. Sung thoughts are never this literal because this artform per definition is not. Solo numbers are mostly about sung thoughts so they should never be treated literal. The film needs to rise above literality because the song does too. Sung dialogue is more literal but also needs to be embraced in order to make it feel organic. Speaking 4 words and use a long vibrato on the 5th is not raw or organic. The melodies and notes are actors themselves. Apologizing for the material by acting out and speaking through it and constantly switching between acting and singing makes it cringeworthy. Tom needs to learn how to get away from this overemoting. The music and notes already contain a very high level of drama and storytelling, it's written that way for a reason. There is no need for overplaying/overacting each syllable in between each note. That undermines the material and artform. Especially when a director approaches it too literal and is scared for sung thoughts that take away from literality. Some melodies and notes are already very emotional to begin with, let them do the work and tell a story too. It's this overemoting that turns the film into a parody.
With that said, it looks like he is definitely making different choices for Cats.
The live-bleating isn't an option for this film, so this already enhances the respect for the sung thoughts, which are per definition not literal. The studio recordings enhance the magic of taking the audience on a journey into the character's mind, which instantly feels bigger than realistic, literal life. This is more than someone humming to himself.
For Grizabella they hired someone whose sung notes can actually act. This results in acting through song instead of acting in spite of song. So her scenes might feel organic.
Other casting baffles me, Judi Dench as Old Deuteronomy. His scene at the end (The addressing of cats) should be sung in a heroic and glorious way. Almost heavenly. How is Judi able to not make it the self-pitying, speak-bleating, retiring, subdued moaning, groaning she always does? She is not able to emote through song, but in spite of song. Don't ruin her scene by letting her attempt singing then, that hurts the acting. Use a voice over.
Other actors, such as Taylor Swift can't emote, neither through song or acting so she can just be pretty. I'm not sure which role she plays but not emoting is still better than the ridiculously tiresome overemoting I described before.
Put in Rebel Wilson for the laughs and hire a real ballet dancer for Victoria (I wonder what kind of pressure was used on Tom Hooper to actually cast Jennifer Hudson and Francesca Hayward to cast on talent) and the movie is a little bit of everything. I hope it doesn't turn out to be a bit of nothing in the end.
Justin D said: "what if the last number isn't sung by old deuteronomy? it's possible.
"
Well, it's his message to the rest of the Cats.
But it's true that this is film, so they could use all filmic possibilities in storytelling. For example hearing the song as some kind of voice-over from heaven. As long as they stay away from the speak-bleating and overemoting, too literal, cringeworthy, acting in spite of song approach. Then they could better leave the song out.
Off topic: Has anyone noticed that "Something there" in the Beauty and the Beast animated movie really embraced the given of sung thoughts, the characters were not mouthing to the song, instead you see other things happening and their facial expressions in certain moments. Very filmic. In the live action movie they stepped into the literal approach pitfall again and you see the characters literally mouthing in eachothers face, when they are not even supposed to hear eachothers thoughts. I wonder if the filmmakers actually understood any of this. Sung thoughts should be embraced in film and taken to the next level and beyond. Not literal.
It seems that current movie musical makers are really clueless about whether a song is a dialogue, a sung thought to themselves, sung thoughts in interaction, a performance within a performance, etc, because all these things can fit into a film but each variation needs a very different approach in filmmaking, you can't approach all scenes the same (les mis).
I'm not ashamed to admit that I am one of those who love CATS but every time I see a post about this movie I keep saying to myself.... WHY? Stupid. Unnecessary!
joined:6/19/17
joined:
6/19/17
Posted: 11/19/18 at 5:38pm