Poster of the American version of The King of the Circus
On January 31, the reference news network reported that the gorgeous stage performance, the natural singing, and a bizarre circus team, this American music song and dance film "King of the Circus", which is full of 19th century "Moulin Rouge" style, gave the audience great audiovisual satisfaction and pleasure. It is said that US President Trump had a rare good night's sleep after watching the film in the White House cinema. Trump's aides even said that after watching the movie, the president rarely lost his temper.
Perhaps this is the charm of film art, and even the "house of cards politics" of the White House can temporarily calm down.
Anna and Philip
"The King of the Circus" will be released on Chinese mainland this Friday (February 1), and it has been acclaimed and popular after its release in the international market, but it has inevitably received some criticism. For example, an article in Time magazine in the United States related barnum in the film to Trump, both believing that Trump is a modern version of the "greatest actor", and that Barnum only has money and enjoyment in his eyes, just a "refined egoist" who betrays entertainment.
However, it is obvious that the author of this article in Time magazine in the United States only rubbed a hot spot, taking advantage of the popularity of "King of the Circus" to approve President Trump.
100% professionalism
However, there is nothing opportunistic about the success of this film. For example, it did not rely on a large number of advertising, and even relied on the so-called network water army and satin hand to create gimmicks, and did not create controversial topics to attract attention. Its success is 100% due to the professional production standards and the transmission of positive energy and mainstream values.
Its professionalism can be seen in its luxurious team, and its starring and original music production are both oscar winners.
Michael Gracie, although a new director, has been a well-known visual effects artist in Hollywood film and television circles before, and the shocking visual effects of "King of the Circus" prove the professional skills of the new director, while the original songs and music in the film are the hands of Oscar winners Benji Pasek and Justin Paul, who are the creators of the songs in the 2016 hit music film "Philharmonic City". When the film's "Swedish female singer" Jenny Linde passionately performs the melody of "Never Enough" over and over again, not only is barnum in the film conquered and fallen in love, but the audience in the cinema also has the melody in their minds over and over again, lingering.
Hugh Jackman plays Circus founder Barnum
It can be said that "The King of the Circus" is a combination of Hollywood visual masters and vocal masters. Its cast is equally strong: Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson and Zandaia, all of whom are Oscar nominees.
The poor boy founded the world's first circus
The world's first circus
Compared with the stunning audiovisual effects, the plot of the film seems decent. The film tells the story of a poor boy named Barnum in the 19th century, who bravely pursues his dreams, and eventually establishes his own "circus" and becomes the founder of the world entertainment industry.
The young Barnum followed the tailor's father to a rich man's house, and was slapped by the rich man because he made the rich man's daughter Charlitti laugh, and it was this slap that made Barnum harvest Charlie's friendship and heart. Barnum, who had two daughters with Charlitti, started a business in order to give his wife and daughter a superior life, starting a circus troupe.
In the beginning, his business was bleak, and the theater door was full of finches. His daughter's words inspired him to be a "one-of-a-kind" circus, and Barnum looked around for strange-looking but special talents. Soon, bearded girls, long-legged giants, twin trapeze artists, and dwarfs who were proficient in riding and could imitate Napoleon... Successively joined the troupe, because of the addition of these "clowns", Barnum's horse theater troupe began to win audiences. But this kind of performance, which was considered difficult to achieve at the time, was attacked by mainstream society, and because of the performance of people of color, it was also attacked by white racists, and Barnum's fledgling career was in danger of dying.
By chance, he attended the Queen's banquet, and in the upper circles, he met the Swedish singer Jenny Lind, and at Barnum's kind invitation, Jenny gladly agreed to tour the United States. With the success of the tour, Barnum's career reached its peak, but due to a scandal with Jenny, his family was in crisis, and his acting career was also in trouble.
Barnum family
Between Jenny and the family, Barnum eventually chose to return to his wife and daughter. Whether to continue to pursue the so-called high art, or to move forward side by side with the unruly horse theater troupe, Barnum resolutely chose to return to the horse theater troupe, and eventually pushed the horse theater performance to a new height and became the mainstream popular art.
Not only love, but also "bearded girl" who can sing
It is worth pointing out that such a decent plot is not eclipsed in a film that focuses on audiovisual effects, because of the positive energy and mainstream values it transmits. On topics such as love, friendship, friendship, and solidarity, the director and production team gave their insights through the film.
For example, on the topic of love, the rich woman Charlitti married the poor boy Barnum despite her father's objections, and when Barnum decided to start a business, Charity said that as long as the family is together, even if life is frugal, it is also very happy. When Barnum started his own hip theater troupe, Charlitti gave him the greatest spiritual support. In addition, Barnum's young partner, Philip Carlisle, fell in love with an African-American actor of the troupe, Anne Wheeler, despite the racial prejudices of the time and the opposition of aristocratic parents.
The moment young Philip calls with an African-American circus.
The film also renders the friendship between the two men. When the company was caught on fire, Barnum burst into the fire and rescued Philip Carlisle, who was unconscious in the fire.
In addition, to some extent, the film also conveys the feelings of opposing racial discrimination, physical defect discrimination, and paying attention to marginalized people in society. The actors of the company were all marginal people before, and although they had special talents, they were ridiculed and discriminated against by the people around them because of their strange appearance, and they lived in poverty and suffering. Barnum's Circus gave them a "home", and because of this, in the most difficult moments of the troupe, they did not choose to leave, but chose to stand more firmly together.
There is a detail about the "bearded girl" that is impressive.
Bearded girl
The singing voice of "Bearded Girl" is very beautiful, before joining the troupe, she can only hide and secretly sing alone, using her singing voice to resist the white eyes and discrimination of the people around her, and to soothe the hurt in her heart. When the "bearded girl" made a stunning appearance on the stage, if there is no music and singing, presumably the "bearded girl" wearing a low-cut dress but full of black beards, this strange shape will cause the audience to laugh, but this situation does not happen in the theater, under the infection of music and singing, any laughter of the audience will appear inappropriate and disrespectful, which is the shocking power that art brings to the audience.
In fact, this film, which is always full of melody and rhythm, also presents another space worth thinking about. As some critics have pointed out — is Barnum an artist or an ambitious entertainment businessman?
But is it entertainment, or art? Or is it just business? Isn't that one of the big problems that has plagued Hollywood in the past, now, and even in the future? Perhaps, we can't give too much, too much meaning to a movie. (Text/Kaifeng)
Barnum and his circus troupe