I really feel like I shouldn't review this one. Every time I see a Bertolt Brecht piece, the first time I hate it, but the subsequent times I see it, that becomes my favorite piece of theatre ever. But you know what? Brecht hated this adaptation, so maybe I'm justified to have qualms with it. I watched the
backstory behind his qualms and I'm not sure if they are valid. I really should see the stage production and review this movie again.But here are my first impressions, regardless. If I'm wrong, I'll rewrite this review later. I haven't seen a lot of the early talkies. I love silent film and I love talkies. Really, film in general is pretty good. But I do have problems with this early talkie because, clearly, the medium wasn't quite developed yet. It is funny that I already start off with a complaint because I love Georg Wilhelm Pabst's Pandora's Box, you you think I'd be losing my sh*t at this one. Yeah, it was good in terms of cinematography and story, but OH-MY-GOD does this movie need to be spiced up a bit.Here's the main problem. The use of actual sound was great, but it was very sparse. Every line was as short as it could be, with the exception of songs. But lavish scores swept throughout silent film. The Threepenny Opera is completely silent when people aren't talking. The acting, also, reminds me of silent acting, only with talking. I can see why the transition was so awkward. Mack doesn't come off as charming (although the text supports that he should), but just as this huge dick that I don't want to see succeed, but does. I wish that if the social commentary was to be played through, it was one or the other. It's either that Mack really is a killer and rapist who is an ass and that shows the greediness of the middle class, or there is no social commentary and Mack is charming. Don't give him a script where he's friends with everyone and laughs, but treats everyone like an asshat.Again, Brecht was a genius. He's one of my favorite playwrights. But it takes me a while to warm up to each piece and what it is suppost to mean. Also, Threepenny Opera really is a fantastic classic, but it is a classic with faults. Most of this because of the liminal period that film was going through. Finally, I'd like to state about the difference between "musicals" now and what could be loosely classified as a musical then. I have seen silent pics with crazy motion and crazy dance. Watch the short films of Jean Renoir (while ignoring some very dated racism) and you'll see that it's not hard to have an actor moving all over the stage. Not a damn thing in Threepenny Opera and I have to wonder about that choice. Anytime someone broke out into song, that song was sung absolutely still. I think my problem is that I have been spoiled and haven't seen enough early talkies to know what I'm really driving on about. Again, if you see this review again in far more positive terms, it means I've done more research and/or watched this movie again. It seems like something that'd be right up my alley, but just alienated me.
January 12, 2008
