Review of Gigi (1958) by Nik B — 08 Nov 2011

If I liked musicals, then I'm sure would have appreciated this film more. It's well-made with well-likable people. The plot is not the straight purely romantic, even though it's presented that way. It's a family film, and has since been rated G, but it's about whores- if you lift the innocent veil off of it.

Gigi is a young girl being raised by a grandmother and a great aunt, basically to be a proper mistress to a rich Frenchman. (But not a street floozie). Both Gigi and her male protagonist, the rich Frenchman Gaston, are bored by the overwhelming air of romance in their country. Gigi sees it as a constant lesson to be trained upon. Gaston is cynical at the women that come in and out of his life who appreciate their gifts and little else.

Leslie Caron is beautiful and plays Gigi with a great childish quality that never turns to a fake-overnight adult. Her innocense never waivers. As Gaston, Louis Jordan is equally on target. His cynicism moves naturally into romance and that is mostly believable due to his perfomrance.

And like I said, the film is well-made. Many on location Paris shots have beauty, pomp, circumstance. The interior shots are sick with color, which explains the Art Directioni and Cinematography Oscars. And too, the Best Direction for Vincent Minelli, who lost for "An American in Paris" which is a far superior film. The songs are better here than other movies, but still not my taste. I appreciated most the title track, which shows Jordan walking Paris alone, all at once cursing his love interest and talking himself back to her.

In the end though, there was too much coming and going, back and forthness. I lost my interest in their relationship. The momentum seemed to die down too much. And... it's a musical.