I agree that the new film is gorgeous, although I don't know whether to credit Spielberg, his famously talented cinematographer Janusz Kaminsky, or the production designer Adam Stockhausen, but as I saw it in the theater, I decided that I liked the lens flare, and that it was necessary. With the gritty realism of the scenery itself, the film needed something fantastical to elevate it into the abstract world of a musical.
Where many movie musicals do that through scenic design -- think "The Wizard of Oz" or "An American in Paris," plus the original WSS -- plenty others do so through camera work -- "Sweet Charity," "The Sound of Music," "Chicago," even "Step Up 2 the Streets."
I do think we need something in the film to feel elevated and not-quite-real for us to enter that abstract space where scenes transition into song, and in Spielberg's film, much of that happens through the lighting. I think it works well.
- GMB |
