I’ve written before about how much I adore this movie, and how I find it to just be full of life and joy and silliness and stupidity and smiles. What I find most impressive about Woody Allen is his willingness to adapt his style and challenge himself with new forms of storytelling. In the case of Everyone Says I Love You, that form is a musical, but while the form is a common one, Allen finds a way of making his version of the genre entirely unique and consistent with his favorite topics and style of comedy.
Today’s musicals seem to require an awareness of their own absurdity, a measure of ironic detachment that is possible to achieve while at the same time celebrating that absurdity and appreciating what it can accomplish that earnest seriousness cannot. Moulin Rouge is one movie that exists both as a deconstruction of the musical and a musical that is easy to get swept up in. Everyone Says I Love You operates a little differently, in that its musical moments are meant to present the scenario “what would happen if people in real life just started singing their thoughts?” Throwing together realism with musical interludes can’t help but breed comedic situations. The realistic tone, though, is also contrasted with a narrative that is preposterous to match the absurdity of seeing ordinary people break into song and dance. I hope people who dislike this movie enjoy their melancholia.
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Published: Jun 23, 2013 07:55 pm