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| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +# Documentation: https://docs.hugoblox.com/managing-content/ |
| 3 | + |
| 4 | +title: "The Wicked Film Is Surprisingly Good" |
| 5 | +subtitle: "" |
| 6 | +summary: "" |
| 7 | +authors: [thomas-e-hansen] |
| 8 | +tags: [misc,films,review] |
| 9 | +categories: [sprout] |
| 10 | +date: 2024-12-23T23:38:17+01:00 |
| 11 | +lastmod: |
| 12 | +featured: false |
| 13 | +draft: false |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +# Featured image |
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| 17 | +# Focal points: Smart, Center, TopLeft, Top, TopRight, Left, Right, BottomLeft, Bottom, BottomRight. |
| 18 | +image: |
| 19 | + caption: "" |
| 20 | + focal_point: "" |
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| 22 | + |
| 23 | +# Projects (optional). |
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| 27 | +# Otherwise, set `projects = []`. |
| 28 | +projects: [] |
| 29 | +--- |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +I had my doubts going in to watch the film version of Wicked: the trailer was |
| 32 | +more of a plot summary, rather than something which grabbed your interest and |
| 33 | +made you want to watch the rest; it was an approximately 2½ hour _part one_ |
| 34 | +(I've been burnt by that so many times); and it was a film remake of a -- very |
| 35 | +popular -- musical, which _can_ go well, but some just really don't. And, I must |
| 36 | +admit, I had my doubts as to pop-star-turned-actress Ariana Grande. However, it |
| 37 | +turned out I shouldn't have been worried: the film was an absolute blast! |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | +## Not Just a Filmed Musical |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +The whole "film version of a musical" can go terribly when the studio, rights |
| 43 | +holders, or whatever go "Hello, I like money!" and just stick a poorly placed |
| 44 | +camera in front of what is essentially an on-stage musical, but without the |
| 45 | +experience of seeing it live, and with the camera adding very little. Wicked is |
| 46 | +not that. The crew behind it have very clearly gone "Okay, this is based on a |
| 47 | +musical, which is usually on a stage. But. What can we do with film technology |
| 48 | +that you wouldn't be able to do on stage?" And it works! |
| 49 | + |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +### The Props (TODO: kulisser?) |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | + |
| 54 | +## The Actors and Characters |
| 55 | + |
| 56 | +* Galinda "side-kicks" are phenomenal. |
| 57 | + |
| 58 | +### They Can Sing |
| 59 | + |
| 60 | +* AG, unsurprisingly. |
| 61 | +* But (most) of the rest of the cast as well! |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | + |
| 64 | +## The Message Is Surprisingly Relevant |
| 65 | + |
| 66 | +* Wicked is a critique of power. |
| 67 | +* Lots of themes that could be interpreted in several ways. [SPOILERS AHEAD!] |
| 68 | +* Definitely has some sub-themes of queerness |
| 69 | + - To some extent makes sense: Friends of Dorothy, etc. (TODO: expand) |
| 70 | +* Fiyero is flamboyantly bi in a way that feels incredibly natural for the |
| 71 | + character. |
| 72 | +* Animals meeting in secret to discuss others going missing, being erased from |
| 73 | + educational history, etc. draws some links to black history as well as World |
| 74 | + War 2. |
| 75 | + |
| 76 | + |
| 77 | +## Not All Great |
| 78 | + |
| 79 | +* Some awkward transitions to songs |
| 80 | +* Probably less noted due to the language size, but the Danish subtitling is |
| 81 | + _awful_ |
| 82 | + - Defying Gravity has a completely different message. How do you mess that |
| 83 | + up?? |
| 84 | + - In "The Wizard and I": "making good" could be translated verbatim, which |
| 85 | + would keep its double meaning in Danish. But instead it's "be successful" |
| 86 | + or something like that. :facepalm: |
| 87 | + |
| 88 | + |
| 89 | +## But Overall Great Fun |
| 90 | + |
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