Have you ever seen a performance of the musical of Les Mis where it's obvious, more obvious than usual, that the cast and/or the director has read the novel?
I've been watching the bootleg of the 2001 Brazilian production, and this is one of those performances.
Even when moments don't play out exactly like they do in the novel, the spirit of the novel is there. For example, Bamatabois doesn't stuff snow down Fantine's back, but he does pour a bottle of wine down her back. And though we see Cosette discovering that Valjean has kept her childhood clothes during "One Day More" rather than Valjean crying over them on her wedding night, their significance is still there.
Then there are characterization touches that definitely have Hugo's spirit within them. For example, after Fantine is fired from the factory, she doesn't try to beg her now ex-coworkers for help, but stands side-eyeing them as if she's too proud to lower herself in front of them, only giving in to her anguish when she's alone. Enjolras has a distinctly still and stately "fine marble" quality about him, even though he's not an Antinous-like blonde. And Éponine definitely has an air of wildness, inappropriateness, and sassy indifference in the face of danger that you don't see from most actresses who play her.
I've only watched Act I so far, but I'm looking forward to Act 2! I can't wait to see if these Hugo-faithful vibes will continue!
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Not many productions seem to do it but I still think Turandot should enter the stage veiled in her first appearance. And then lift the veil so the Persian prince can see her as he's being executed and that's when Calf switches from "Cruel one, I curse you!" To "O divine beauty, o marvel! ". Right as the previous prince he was just pleading for moments ago is beheaded.
Also I've realized I have a pet peeve, and that is giving Turandot a hand mirror/making her look at her own reflection a lot.Portraying her as vain -and in the most stereotypical way in the history of western art at that-is such a shallow take and completely misses the point of the character.
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forgot to bring this up in my last rewatch but Trina sitting on the last block on stage during "holding to the ground" is a new kind of heartbreak. She is LITERALLY trying to keep hold of the old life she's always known. And her getting off the block represents when she accepts that everything that's happening and everything that she's feeling is just part of her life and the reality she's in.
Uh. SAF lighting/staging(/whatever else happens to come up) analysis be upon ye. This is a very loose definition of 'analysis' and is more like 'I wrote this with the power of Autism, Being a Film Student, and 'Song 2' by Blur', enjoy :)
^ These are the images I'm gonna be referencing, but I'm talking about the scene in general too. I'm gonna keep the main body of the text in white and my notes in pink :)
Ough okay so. The staging + body language. Owen is specifically placed higher than Curt because in his eyes, he has the upper hand. The slight low angle also lends weight to this and aids in making him look powerful. Because of this, his gun arm isn't raised higher than his shoulder level as it doesn't need to be, giving him a casual air, along with his pulled-back, loose posture and his head lolling slightly to the side.
Despite his body language, we can see from his face and words that he is actually very tense internally. This is probably a very deliberate choice on the director's part, as it emphasises Owen's demeanour of laid-back power (or at least, that's what he tries to present himself as).
This all contrasts directly to Curt. His gun arm has to be at a very high angle because of his positioning in relation to Owen, meaning his posture is very tense and his head is held rigidly upwards. Owen has been planning this meeting for (presumably) years, but Curt obviously hasn't. This is reflected in how they stand (as just explained).
He looks up to Owen, both literally and metaphorically. When they were together, they looked up to each other, and therefore were on equal footing because of their mutual respect and love. But now that Owen feels betrayed and scorned, that resect and love has become one-sided (but half-buried by Curt).
(A detail I like is that even though both actors are (I assume bc it's more common) right-handed, Owen holds his gun in his left hand, meaning the guns are level with each other, creating nice symmetry).
//
LIGHTING TIME. Oh boy, the lighting. Owen stands not only shrouded in stage smoke (giving him an etherial appearance), but also severe white light. This separates him and Curt, showing the now-clear stark contrast between them (whereas before they were both in normal light levels together).
It also represents how Owen has essentially become a ghost; he doesn't exist in his own identity to anybody other than Curt now (and Tati but she isn't in this scene). He isn't part of this world anymore, and exists outside of ever being in Curt's life again.
The light from around Owen casts down on Curt, almost invoking religious imagery. From both perspectives, it represents Curt's adoration and idolisation for Owen (both from being in love with him and from building a version of Owen in his head for four years), and need to 'save' him (his quote unquote 'Messiah complex' that his mother describes).
From Curt's perspective, he is gazing up at Owen, and is bathed in some of his light (he moves closer to Owen later in the scene, more into his light, symbolising his resignation to, and acceptance of, the fact that he can't save Owen. He moves past his memory of, and built-up mental image of, Owen). Up the stairs is Owen, the man he loves, and the light. Back down the stairs is his life without him; darkness.
From Owen's perspective, he knows that Curt feels this way about him - hell, he probably felt the same way about Curt, before the accident - but he keeps his distance. The light, for him, isn't holy light, but a barrier he has put up. In the scene, he doesn't move closer to Curt, he stays high up where he doesn't have to face the man he loves (loved?) and see the pain on his face from up close, see the tears (of anger, or heartbreak? Both, I'd say) that are probably forming in his eyes. Does he feel guilty or regret it? Possibly, considering he apologises several times to Curt in 'One Step Ahead'.
Either way, the stark white light isn't healthy for either of them. So they leave the light, together, when the shot rings out and the stage falls into darkness.
Okay!! This has been my over-the-top, unhinged, accidentally-a-character-study ''''analysis'''' of a single fucking scene from a spy musical that I've been a fan of for a grand total of 24 hours!! :D Please let me know if I made any mistakes, I'm not as knowledgeable about staging as I'd like to be, and as said, I also haven't been a fan for very long.
(I'm gonna post this now and stop adding more to it lmao)
