Wednesday 5 June 2013

New York, New York

(Martin Scorsese, 1977)
IMDB

New York, New York, is Scorsese's typical Hollywood telling of a love-hate relationship. As a director, Scorsese is fantastic at telling a story or opinion that is unpopular, which is probably why, at times, the film is quite difficult to watch- even to a modern de-sensitized audience. He makes us feel a real feeling of danger and threat between the two explosive forces of De Niro and Minnelli; really distressing us, as viewers, as we practically watch domestic abuse.

The design features heavy use of painted scenery and back-cloths as well as vulgar clashes of colours within the jazz clubs (purple and yellow), adding I suppose to the uncomfortable watch that the story had already established.

Sweet Charity

(Bob Fosse, 1969)
IMDB

Directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, every movement within the film has a certain fluidity to it; a sexual and syncopated feel that hadn't really been seen before. The film itself, revolving round Charity, a dancer at a strip club, is an example of Fosse tackling a seedy/ gritty subject, via movement and theatricality. Within the strip club, the décor is tacky and feels very uncomfortable, with cheap gold embellishments adorning the space. During “Hey Big Spender” the women roll their shoulders and hips in a way that suggests sexuality, but at the same time feels quite sanitized. The women stand in a line, all fixed against a horizontal bar in various poses. Some lean against it, whilst others drape legs or arms across it, much like puppets I think. The women's movements are superimposed upon each other The transitions between scenes feel very dated, done via grainy still frames.

In a stark contrast to the aforementioned strip joint, there is The Pompeii Club, filled with tall, statuesque, model men and women. Figures are silhouetted in black amongst a set of columns, candles and marble floors. The scene screams sixties class, in that massively desirable but overtly pretentious kind of way. A cheetah sits in a cage and moving pictures are projected onto the walls. The only colour really present is the selection of feather wigs that the female dancers wear. Everyone otherwise wears black; black sequins, black feathers, white silk gloves and diamonds. The dancers perform three acts; The Aloof, The Heavyweight and The Big Finish, all the while surrounded by an elegant audience of people not watching, but instead contributing to the atmosphere by just being sexy, mysterious and statuesque themselves. Each dance is, of course, accompanied by the obligatory “sixties head-bobbing” movement. During the three acts, the mood is changed by the colour of the main wall behind the stage area. Blue during The Aloof, red during The Heavyweight and amber during The Big Finish.