Fantasy Films, or Khan Noonien Singh v. Henry Higgins

Fantasy films come in all shapes and sizes, and most of them are easily broken down into subcategories. First, there are the hardcore true fantasy films, such as "Lord of the Rings", "Conan the Barbarian", and "The Chronicles of Narnia"-sword and sorcery epics where there are heroes, monsters, magic, and forests...lots and lots of forests. Next, you have the science fiction films, those that begin with "Star"-"Star Wars", "Star Trek", "Stargate"-all about exciting adventures from the future or from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. These films are marked by alien creatures, ray guns, space ships, and clear cut heroes and villains. Third, you have horror films, those films with creatures from the great beyond, devils, demons, Freddies, Jasons, and Michael Myers (no, not "Austin Powers"-the OTHER Michael Myers). These films are marked by nubile young people in abandoned cabins or home alone with no parents being stalked by bogeymen who hate misbehaving kids...unstoppable killing machines whose every kill shows imagination and ingenuity that would be more at place in an ad agency than in a home with a machete. Finally, you have the animated films, those Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks candy-coated confections filled with songs and dance where the animals help you out of jams and where there is always a happy ending-safe for kids (most of the time), and fun for the whole family.

When I was a child, I gravitated towards these types of films (well, except for horror films-remind me to tell you one day of my first screening of "Jaws"...in a theater . . .at the age of 7), and I used to love superheroes, comics, toys, and fantasy (ok, ok...I admit it...I am still a huge nerd who loves his superheroes-no surprise to longtime readers of this site). I used to spend a lot of time by myself creating new adventures, playing with my action figures, and just crafting stories. My parents used to worry...they would tell me "Artful, you are living in a fantasy world. Those movies are not realistic in any way. Why do you like them so much?"

Ahhh....but my parents loved fantasy films even more than I did. True, they hated cartoons (well, except for "Lady and the Tramp"-my Dad always got a kick out the Italian chefs calling Lady a "cocker Spanish-girl"), fantasy, horror, and ESPECIALLY science fiction. My brother had to fight tooth and nail to see the original "Star Wars" in the theater (during its initial run-limited engagement my ass...). But to all of their protests and hatred of all things sci-fi, I blissfully said nothing in defense, for I knew that my parents loved fantasy films in their own way.

My parents LOVED classic musicals.

Musicals are the ultimate in fantasy films. Love stories in far off places or far off times, where everyone is dressed impeccably and can dance with abandon through the streets of Paris, where the daughter of a dustman could become a duchess in a flower shop, where a governess could teach a crusty old Captain to love again with the spectre of Nazi Germany hovering over them...where New York street gangs could have been companies in the Bolshoi . . .and where a sailor On the Town could dance with Jerry Mouse. Yes, my parents loved musicals, and through their love of musicals, I found an appreciation for them as well. I remember that my folks would not let my brother and I watch Lerner and Lowe's "My Fair Lady" because Henry Higgins yelled "damn" several times near the end of the film. They also thought the street gangs of "West Side Story" and the violent deaths of Riff and 'Nardo were way too violent for kids (nevermind that I had already been traumatized by Quint's grisly death-by-shark in "Jaws" ). My memories from childhood are of family movie nights revisiting a more innocent time when we could believe that people just might start dancing down the streets, where even Brando could sing (OK, maybe not, but "Guys and Dolls" is a LOT of fun to watch).

What I love about musicals is that, like some of the very best animated cartoons of the Warner Brothers era, they could be enjoyed on several levels by young and old alike. There are many themes that I never picked up on while growing up, yet they became apparent to me as I matured. Take "Fiddler on the Roof" for example. I always found Tevye to be a bit whiny-I mean, how bad could he have it? A loving wife, 5 lovely daughters, lots of friends in the village-why did he seem so sad? And yet...as I grew older, I understood his struggle to the changes in tradition, the things that he knew, the way things are-his struggle against change itself. The first suitor sought both his blessing and his permission. The suitor for his second daughter did not seek his permission, but he only sought his blessing. The suitor for his third daughter Hava...the apple of his eye, his favorite...well, he sought neither as their marriage went against all tradition (I can still see Topol in the role yelling at the sky in futility "TRADITION!!!"). Such a great film.

Out of all of the the great musicals, the one that has been a true revelation to me as I have aged has been "Gigi", Vincente Minnelli's adaptation of the Collete short story about a young girl coming of age in turn of the century Paris. Leslie Caron is amazing in the title role, and Maurice Chevalier is in his element as Louis Jourdan's uncle, scheming and advising his nephew to just enjoy his bachelor life (who cares who he harms?). The songs are amazing, and Minnelli knew how to shoot Paris. The only thing that saddens me is that I could never see Paris as it was. With the advent of letterboxing, I was finally able to see the film as it was meant to be seen, and all I could think was "wow!" Now, most of you know of my love of film, and this love can tend towards the maudlin and the sentimental at times. but Minnelli framed one of the most beautiful shots I have ever seen on film (and those of you who have been fortunate enough to witness the shot understand). The scene is near the end of the film. Jourdan's character is in a hansom cab and is take to a giant park. We see this gorgeous fountain (all lit up at night as most Parisian fountains are) and we see the silhouette of the cab pull up in front of the fountain. We then see the cab pull away, and on the left side of the screen, in silhouette, we see Gaston (Jourdan's character), top hat on, his head down, thinking things over.

My God, what an amazing shot. I wish I had that shot framed.

Mind you, this was not a shot of a duel between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. This was not Gandalf's face-off with the Balrog on the Bridge at Khazad-dum. This was not even gorgeous waltz of the robots from "Wall-E"-no, this shot is from a 1950s musical about a young girl coming of age in Paris. This shot is probably my favorite film shot of all (with a close second being Will Kane alone on the deserted city streets in "High Noon").

Since those early days, my love of musicals has continued unabated. When I lived in Baltimore for grad school (round 1), I sometimes made day trips to New York to catch shows on Broadway. This was how I was able to see "Phantom of the Opera" (with and without Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman), "Cats", "Cabaret", "Beauty and the Beast", "Miss Saigon", "Rent" with the original cast, "The Lion King", and, before he died, Rex Harrison in a revival of "My Fair Lady." Living in Chicago, I have been fortunate enough to see even more musicals, as the theater district in Chicago has so many great shows.

I am writing all of this because, in less than 2 weeks, "Wicked" is having its final curtain in Chicago. After assuming that it would be here forever, I was taken by surprise, for I never had a chance to see it and was worried that I would miss it. Thankfully, I now have my ticket and will be seeing it next Tuesday night. All I know about it is that it has something to do with the origins of the witches of Oz. That is all. Well, that and the fact that everyone who has ever seen the show has fallen in love with it. The anticipation is there, and I am looking forward to yet another wonderful experience.

Now, over the years, my male brethren have given me a lot of grief for my love of musicals, and I really do not care. I feel sad for them because their own insecurities and small mindedness are causing them to miss out on some amazing performances.

I leave you with this little bit of trivia. Ricardo Montalban passed away this week. To most people, he was best known as the mysterious Mr. Roarke of "Fantasy Island" or KHHHAAAAAN! from "Star Trek: the Wrath of Khan." Few people know that Mr. Montalban, after becoming a star in Mexican cinema, starred on Broadway opposite Lena Horne in the musical "Jamaica." Khan as a calypso singer? Believe it!