Fantastic Musical, But Not The Greatest

Rating: 9/10 (18 September 2015)

You wouldn't normally expect greatness from a huge meta-film like this one; a movie about making movies seems self-indulgent. However, this film is not full of itself with the fact that it is about movies - it even addresses problems that sound provided in the early years of sound's use in the motion pictures. It seems that this reflection on cinema's early days of sound may be the reason it is considered one of the greatest movies ever made, though I disagree with this idea. While this is considered the greatest musical film of all time, I'd have to say Yankee Doodle Dandy definitely tops this one.
What is great about the story of this musical is it is easy enough for anybody to follow, which makes me think that this might be one of the first movies I show my children if I ever have any. The antagonist - Lina Lamont - isn't evil enough to crush a child's innocence, but a child would understand to dislike her while laughing at her ridiculous voice, making her not so ruthless of a villain.
This film has an interesting take on many aspects of Hollywood. It doesn't state whether or not we should consider film to be a high art since there is much commentary (especially at the beginning) on theatrical actors giving more input into their performances than silly faces projected on a screen. Also, the various numbers in the film are filmed with long takes, making it seem more like a theatrical musical than a film (with exceptions to the incredibly- filmed sequences "Beautiful Girls" and "Broadway Melody"). Since it is hard to tell where the theater ends and the film begins, the film doesn't give one specific stance of film as an art but rather different points of view on the matter. I suppose this may be why the film is considered to be among the greatest movies ever, but as I have said in past reviews, ambiguity does not necessarily mean greatness. It has to be pulled off right in my opinion. I am not saying the movie is less than good, it is great! But is it really this masterpiece everybody says it is? It is a formulaic musical where the central couple ends up together at the conclusion as expected by the audience. Yes it has entertaining numbers such as "Make 'Em Laugh," but do such numbers make this a masterpiece? This is a great film to watch with highly entertaining moments, but a self-indulgent film shouldn't automatically dictate greatness - stories about more "everyday" situations are much more powerful. Not all of us know the Hollywood life.
3.5/4.0