Gigi: Vincente Minnelli

Vincente Minnelli's Gigi is like George Cukor's My Fair Lady, only without the persisting cultural relevancy. Seriously, compare both films. Both were musicals about precocious young European women who are transformed into proper high class ladies. Both won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Score. And both featured music by the legendary team of Lerner and Loewe. The only noticeable difference is that Eliza is English and Gigi is French. Well, that, and Gigi isn't as good. Whereas My Fair Lady had an interesting concept propelling the lead woman's transformation (a bet between two phoneticians), Gigi's eponymous female lead becomes a woman of high class because...um...she wants to. I dunno...that doesn't make for nearly as interesting a drama. So...Gigi wants to become a proper lady so she can appeal to an upper class man who goes around singing about how boring his life of luxury is. Bah, I just couldn't get interested in the characters. The music doesn't help, either. Like the soundtrack from My Fair Lady, it features music that was obviously written to accentuate the lyrics and therefore isn't exactly the most catchy or memorable. You'll remember the lyrics, to be sure, but good luck remembering the actual music that accompanies it. And furthermore, most of the songs sound tired. Honoré Lachaille's "Thank Heavens for Little Girls," for example, features one of the most tedious and dull choruses that I have ever encountered in musical theater, or film. That doesn't even take into consideration how creepy it sounds to hear an old man singing about how much he loves little girls. The film is just tiring and forgettable all round. Watch My Fair Lady instead.

5/10