1. "Roxanne" from Moulin Rouge
Let me just start out by saying I love this song, especially the tango rendition that Baz Luhrmann created. This scene is an intense scene where the prostitute Satine (Nicole Kidman) is eating dinner with The Duke (Richard Roxburgh), who thinks she is in love with him. However, she is really in love with Christian (Ewan McGregor), who is struggling at the thought of Satine having to be with someone else. The beginning of the scene focuses more on the tango dance scene, setting the mood for the scene. However, there are quick flashes throughout that show Satine dining with the Duke in the tower. The scene begins to build at 4:20, where Luhrmann uses an interesting extreme wide shot that shows the outside of the tent where the tango is taking place, and Christian leaving the tent, but a light from inside makes it unable to see him at all. Luhrmann continues to cut quickly between scenes of Christian walking away from the tent and the tango dancers, until you see Satine and the Duke on the balcony overlooking the tent (4:40). Luhrmann begins using a lot of symbolism. After a medium shot of Satine looking off the balcony with the Duke behind her, it cuts to a POV wide shot of Christian below her. He then cuts to a high angle wide shot of Christian looking up and seeing her and the Duke. You will notice that the lighting in Christian's shot is red, symbolizing anger and how much he is hurting. The shots are also unsteady, just like his world feels without Satine with him. The lighting in Satine's scenes is blue, symbolizing order and sadness, because she is trying to do the right thing, but she is upset about doing it. The scene truly builds however, whem Satine tells the Duke no, and he sees Christian looking up at them. At this point, the song builds to it's highest point, and Luhrmann shows the intensity of the situation based off of the Duke's anger. Throughout the rest of the song, Luhrmann uses quick transitions between the tango dancers, the duke attacking and attempting to rape Satine, and Christian's anger. Luhrmann and John O'Connell, the choreographer of Moulin Rouge, obviously worked very closely together so that the dancing symbolized what was happening in the tower when the Duke was attacking her, all the while using quick transitions and the build up of the song to create an intense and somewhat uncomfortable scene for the audience. The quick transitions also create confusion for the audience, which is why the final part of the scene is so impactful, because one second you see the main tango dancer collapse on the ground, the next you see the Duke lying on the ground passed out, which causes the audience to question what they just saw. Thus, all of these elements make this scene really stick out to me as one of my favorites (and you have to admit, look at the incredible choreography!!!!).
Another musical based movie, Chicago is one of my favorite movies of all time, and not just because of the musical and because it was originally created and choreographed by the incredible Bob Fosse. As the director, Rob Marshall did a fabulous job of adapting the musical to the big screen in a way that Bob Fosse would have been proud of. "Cell Block Tango" is one of the most famous and iconic numbers of the musical, so it seems only fitting that Marshall went above and beyond in his version of the 6 Merry Murderesses' tale. Since Rob Marshall directed and choreographed the movie, it is evident how the dancing influences the cinematography, which I really appreciate as a dancer. Marshall switches from the 6 telling their stories in their jail cells to the elaborate, stage like dance number, using angles and pans that aren't typical of a dance number. As the song progresses, not only does the dancing become more dramatic, but so does the cinematography. He uses different angles and switches back and forth from the main dancers to the background silhouette dancers in order to stay true to the theater style of the song, but to bring it to the life of film. Because of this, "Cell Block Tango" is one of my favorite scenes to watch.
3. "Party Scene" from The Great Gatsby
In another brilliant collaboration between director Baz Luhrmann and John O'Connell, the crazy, over the top parties that F. Scott Fitzgerald described in his novel come to life in The Great Gatsby. In the way that I believe only Luhrmann could do, these parties are so cinematographically beautiful while conveying the message of what becomes a main aspect of the movie, Jay Gatsby's elaborate house parties. Not only are the colors bright and vibrant, but there is always a lot going on in all of the shots, symbolizing how crowded his parties always were. Also, in some of the scenes, the camera was somewhat out of focus or the camera would spin around the people to show the effects the alcohol had on everyone at the party. Another thing I loved about this scene was Luhrmann's use of modern music to engage today's audience. While I was watching this scene for the first time, I couldn't help but dance in my seat (yes, I was that person) and wish that I could be there in all of the excitement, which is how everyone in the novel actually felt about Gatsby's parties. These elaborate scenes, along with all the scenes of the movie craftily created through the eyes of Luhrmann are the reason I loved Luhrmann's take on The Great Gatsby.
4. "On My Own" from Les Miserables
I'm going to be honest upfront and say that Tom Hooper's Les Miserables was the highlight of my year when it came out. As an avid lover of the musical, I was moved to tears throughout the entire movie. Literally. I sobbed through the entire three hours (it's pathetic, I know). But back to the scene... as my favorite song in the movie, I felt that Hooper did a great job bringing the song to life through Eponine (Samantha Barks). Not only is the scene shot beautifully in the rain, the scene is mainly close-ups of her singing, which brings all the attention to her emotion. I also liked how Hooper let her float from one side of the frame to the other, instead of keeping her stationary to one side and cutting to another angle. This keeps the scene continuous, which is important since it is such an emotional song in the movie. Another reason I love this scene is the fact that Hooper allowed for the actors to actually sing in the scenes rather than use voiceovers later in post production. This allowed for the actors, including Barks, to let their singing match the emotion they were feeling at the time of the movie. For these reasons, "On My Own" is definitely a top favorite scene of mine.
5. "Catching Bin Laden Scene" from Zero Dark Thirty
I know this movie is very different from the other movie scenes I used in this blog, but it happens to be one of my favorite movies. To be honest, at the time I was dragged to this movie and I wasn't happy about it. However, after I got through the opening torture scene (which almost made me walk out of the theater... Seriously.), I was hooked. The one thing I loved about the final scene was how real it felt. I have never felt so emotionally invested in a movie until that moment. From cutting to the soldiers POV to close ups of Maya (Jessica Chastain) in the control room, I truly felt that the director of Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow, did a great job making the audience feel as if they were in the field or in the control room with them. By using close ups on the more intense scenes to convey emotion and wide shots to get a feel for what is going on within the house as the soldiers are attacking. Overall, the cinematography helped build up the biggest point of the movie, which shows how necessary finding and compiling the right shots can be in moving the plot forward and engaging the audience at the same time.
Oh, Roxanne, that's a good song. That was the only scene from Moulin Rouge I can remember very clearly, probably because it was so emotional. That dance was pretty cool, it was really neat seeing how they worked a song by The Police into an arrangement like that. In the original context of the song I think the audience is supposed to pity and at the same time slightly loathe the man that fell in love with Roxanne, because, well, probably shouldn't become emotionally attached to a woman whose occupation is to please men that way. That's the nicest way I can phrase it. However, in the context of Moulin Rouge, I felt much more sympathetic to Christian, that was sad. I still can't get over the ending to that movie, how sad. Great dance scene though, probably the best in the film in my opinion.
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