The Good: Charming
The Bad: Predictable, Light on character development, Light on DVD bonus features.
The Basics: A disappointing romantic musical, Gigi is entirely predictable and the characters actually work contrary to any sensibility.
It is a rare thing that a movie gets me into a rant that is larger than the movie itself, especially as I have been inundated recently with films that won the Best Picture Oscar. And yet, Gigi inspires me with both and that is where we begin today. My first rant is something that has been building for some time as I have been in the market for DVD and Blu-Ray discs. These mediums are so geared toward first weekend sales that the packaging is utterly useless. They seldom say what a movie is actually about or even why one ought to buy it. It's all "Look, you saw this (or missed it) in the theaters, buy it now!" I mention this at the outset of Gigi because this morning, I gave my wife a choice of which Best Picture I was going to put in the player while she rested and she read the backs of the DVDs and decided against An American In Paris because she was not in the mood for an upbeat musical. Guess what? Gigi is filled with musical numbers and it is set in Paris! The only clue that music is important from the DVD packaging is a mention of the quality of the songs, but it is written in a vague way that - by similar token - would imply Star Wars (reviewed here!) was a musical because the back of that video mentions John Williams' score. So, the first thing one ought to know about Gigi is that while it is mostly a romance, it is a rather musical romance with characters breaking into song at convenient moments.
The second rant is one I seldom indulge in since I began my Best Picture Project. Gigi . . . Best Picture? Really? You're kidding me. Reading over the list for the year (1958), it seems like a year when there were truly no good choices. That said, Gigi?! Gigi?! Gigi is a predictable, somewhat creepy at points (I'm sorry, the song about the value of little girls is just unsettling, even if it is from a very different time) romance that is so obvious it is painful. In recent memory, it reminds me most of The Princess Diaries (reviewed here!) and it has the same resonance as Disney's Beauty And The Beast. And while Gigi has bright color contrasts and a general sense of fun, it is hard to imagine a year where this was truly the best American cinema had to offer; it makes one argue that there ought to be years the award is not given out.
After a musical number where Honore Lachaille observes Paris in the and all of the activity that draws his eye, we are introduced to Gigi, a precocious young woman who is being raised by her grandmother. Gigi is excited by the whole world and all that she has not yet seen or experienced and she is tutored by her aunt Alicia, who has romanced many famous men and now lives as a recluse. Gigi is similarly thrilled by visits from the fabulously wealthy Gaston. Gaston gets along well with Gigi's grandmother and is in the tabloids for his relationships, one of which he almost immediately breaks off. Schooled by Honore, Gaston begins throwing lavish parties which keep his name in the papers, yet completely bore him. Gaston, disillusioned about how nothing ever changes soon comes to despise Paris and its conventions.
But when Gigi swindles Gaston at a card game, she wins a trip to the ocean with him and soon both of their perspectives are shaken up. Gigi begins to conform and develop into a sophisticate and Gaston begins to treasure how different Gigi is.
The setup of Gigi makes it obvious the moment the film begins. Gigi is eager, Gaston is disillusioned, they are more or less single, it is That Type Of Movie. Unfortunately, the film offers little in addition to that and, in fact, it works contrary to itself. Outside the style and flash of Gigi, there is little to recommend it because it is so eager to conform to the expectations of the viewer that it confounds the viewer that actually considers it objectively.
Take, for example, Gigi herself. Gigi has her charm in the fact she is unique and girlish. She does not know the finer things in life, so she enjoys the simpler things like going to the ocean for the first time. Gaston is surrounded by women who know how to choose his cigars for him, who love his wealth and enjoy being in the papers with him. So, the romance between Gigi and Gaston makes sense when Gigi is herself, undeveloped and Gaston begins to realize he has an inkling for her. Unfortunately, this is right around the same time that Gigi's grandmother and aunt realize they may marry Gigi off to the fabulously wealthy Gaston and they set to making her a proper, society woman. Gigi loses her sense of independence and originality in order to conform to their expectations.
Unfortunately, this makes Gigi over into the society princess that Gaston has been sick of the entire movie. The best thing that can happen in Gigi at that point is that Gaston rejects Gigi for being exactly like every other chick he has no interest in, and yet he remains head over heels for her. There is no sensibility to this and the resolution to the film then comes contrary to whatever sense of unique character the movie once possessed.
Conversely, the more interesting relationship is the briefly explored relationship between Honore and Madame Alvarez (Gigi's grandmother). The song they sing about their bygone relationship features a back and forth where he recalls things incorrectly and she reminds him of how things truly were. For a change, in a song they beautifully illustrate how we look through our lost loves with rose-colored glasses and the details end up with less importance than the emotional resonance of the time and place we were in life at the time.
What does not work nearly as well for Gigi is the casting. Gaston, played by Louis Jourdan provides a decent baseline. He appears to be in his late twenties or early thirties. He is appropriately younger than Hermione Gingold, who plays Madame Alvarez. But here things become confused. Isabel Jeans hardly looks young enough to be Gingold's daughter as Aunt Alicia and what is even more problematic is Leslie Caron as Gigi herself. Caron was in her twenties when the film was filmed, which is why she is allowed to drink the champagne in relevant scenes, but her character is characterized as much younger. She, alas, does not hide it well at all. She seems like a woman in her mid-twenties playing a teenager, but she doesn't have the look for it, no matter how director Arthur Freed dresses her up.
Beyond that, Jourdan and Caron have decent on-screen chemistry, as do Gingold and Maurice Chevalier. In fact, Jourdan and Caron's on-screen chemistry is enough to gut any real surprise for the viewer as to what direction the movie is headed in. This makes it hard to say this is great acting by any means. Sure, Caron has a winning smile, but there's no surprise that her youthful character is headed into a romantic relationship with Jourdan's older one.
On DVD, the one-disc version of Gigi is pretty blase, with the only bonus features being the theatrical trailer and fullscreen vs. widescreen presentations on opposite sides of the disc. There is a two-disc version, but that was not the one I had the chance to screen. One imagines it has featurettes and the like to enchant those who enjoyed the source material. As one who did not, I doubt they would be enough to change my perspective on this movie.
For those who like retro romances or musicals, there might be enough here, but as someone who watches a lot of movies and is always looking for something different or that feels new, Gigi only offered me disappointment. It's surprising this is considered such a great movie; clearly it is from a time when the standards were drastically different.
[As a winner of the Best Picture Oscar, this film is part of W.L.'s Best Picture Project, online here! Please check it out!]
For other musicals, please check out my reviews of:
Corpse Bride
Happy Feet
Tangled
5/10
For other film reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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