Review of Gigi (1958) by Johnnylee T — 24 Feb 2016

French version of My Fair Lady.

Caron and Jourdan are superb. Chevalier is charming. I'm Glad I''m Not Young Anymore is a beautiful song. And there are two glorious sequences in which Gaston walks/sings through the gardens of Paris falling in love with Gigi.

The first hour could have been edited after the brittleness and general horribleness of Parisian society had been established. Of course, the attitudes of the time were appalling (you couldn't joke about attempted suicide today) and distinguishing between whether someone is ordinary-common or coarse-common (as Gaston and Gigi do on their first outing) is hard to watch. I know it's a piece of confection and hopefully by the end those attitudes are repudiated, but nothing is said. I guess by Gaston softening towards Gigi they also leave behind the attitudes of the "society" in which neither had felt comfortable - Gaston was always bored and Gigi was a bit of a tomboy and rebel.