While watching An American in Paris I came to the conclusion about two-thirds of the way through that I really didn't care at all about the primary relationship of Jerry (Gene Kelly) and Lise (Leslie Caron) or the love triangle that unfolds. The thing that interested me the most about this film was the commentary on the lifestyle of a struggling artist. Though I wish the film even focused more-so on these attributes I did find it to have several great insights into this type of lifestyle as a painter. My favorite of these moments being when Jerry explains the difference between being a painter vs. a musician or performer, or a visually extravagant dream sequence in which Adam (Oscar Levant) performs in front of thousands of people. Despite the fact that I didn't have much connection to the plot, this film still has a lot of things that I really loved. It's an absolutely gorgeous film, that has some lighting and imagery that just put a smile on my face. The dance choreography isnt anything particularly special, but these lavish sets make some of the music/dance numbers something special to behold. My two favorite sequences have to be the aforementioned dream sequence and the final sequence, although running far too long, is really breath-taking particularly in its use of the 2D hand-painted backgrounds imitating Paris, also representing a connection between Jerry as a painter himself, and the audience. 7.75/10
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
|