I consider musical drama as one of the best genres in the film industry. Watching the 1981 movie “Dreamgirls” by Henry Krieger gave me a sense of satisfaction thanks to the great storyline, the choice of songs incorporated, the dance and the costumes. The show’s business and stardom theme are ideal as it exposes the challenges that celebrities go through in the quest to become successful. Thus, the movie is iconic with fantastic sound and lighting effects, lavish costumes, and a well-twisted epic storyline played by talented portray different characters.
The opening scene with the song “I am looking for something” has a signature sound effect. There are no echoes, and the director does a great job balancing the sound from the performers in the background and that of the three duos- Effie, Deena, and Lorell (Condon, 1981, 00:03:32-00:06:02). Moreover, the camera movement is complementary as is first focuses on the team on stage then moves to show the female performers leaving the stage as the dream girls enter. The camera zooms backstage, where a group of men dancers is making their presentation. The lighting effect from multicolored bulbs and the stage arrangement make the movie a reality.
In addition, the different costumes by the performers are stylish with excellent color combinations. For instance, the folds in the dresses that the trio is wearing have a floral design which pairs well with the silver pumps shoes and the afro hairstyle (Condon, 1981, 00:15:14-00:18:02). They portray the styles at the time when the R&B music was becoming famous in the industry. Moreover, their attire is complementary to those of the men in suits and ties blowing trumpets and dancing alongside. Overall, the costumes across the scenes are beautiful and appropriate, given the aim of entertaining the audience.
The character that I identify with is Effie, mostly because of her personality and the experiences that she had. Particularly, when Curtis decided that she was not a good lead singer based on her physical appearance and looks, I felt hurt, as if I was suffering discrimination. I guess that’s because there was a time I was forced to drop out of a writing competition because of one of the patrons. He did not offer any satisfying information because I was already performing well. I later discovered that he had taken his son to my place. The final reunion, where Eddie leads the song in a black dress, gave me hope that everything becomes great when the truth is exposed.
In my opinion, the emotional villain of this movie is Curtis because he is a social climber who shows no regard for the feelings of other people. The opening song, “I am looking for something”, gives a clue about Curtis and all the remaining actors; they all want to escape the ghetto and become famous (Condon, 1981). However, his haunting character would not let him stop at anything to achieve his purpose as opposed to the rest of the crew, who still have their morals intact. He tore the trio apart by removing Effie as the lead singer and replacing her with Deena because she was slender and her complexion was lighter. I would not want to have a selfish manager who prides himself in causing diving among partners. Nonetheless, his character reveals some of the challenges faced by people in show business.
In conclusion, I enjoyed watching “Dreamgirls” and would recommend it to anyone who loves drama musicals. The camera movement, zooming and focus on different characters in a scene is amazing. The sound effects combining the song vocals, instruments and conversations with different characters are well-balanced. In addition, the costumes are good, with different themes that make them appealing to the audience. The acting brings out the different behaviors of the characters, which creates an enjoyable storyline.
Reference
Condon, B. (1981). Dreamgirls. Broadways. Web.