517: Hamilton

[Speaker 0]:\nTwo twenty four. Let's get to the last movie in this collection, which is Hamilton from twenty twenty, and it is a recording of the live show, and it's on Disney plus. \n\n[Speaker 1]:\nIt is directed by Thomas Kail, written by Lin Manuel Miranda, stars him as well, Phillipa Soo, Leslie Odom junior, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff, Jasmine Seifes Jones. And the synopsis is the real life of one of America's foremost founding fathers and the first secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton, captured live on Broadway from the Richard Rogers Theatre with the original Broadway cast. So, of course, this musical on Broadway has become one of the most successful of all time. I remember when it was making its rounds, it was touring, and it was just insane. Ticket sales were through the roof. It was selling out like snap of your fingers, really took everyone by surprise, and it got glowing reviews and really launched Lin Manuel Miranda into superstardom, especially in the Broadway musical world. Even though I will always prefer film over theater, I do love Broadway productions or theater productions. \n\n[Speaker 0]:\nI would have loved to see this one live with the original cast, but this movie that I'm so glad that Disney did this, I don't always love them buying up all these different properties and having them under the Disney umbrella, but I'm so glad that they got this one because it is such an amazing film, both the actual production, but also how Thomas Kale shoots and edits this movie. \n\n[Speaker 1]:\nLike, I feel like it's as close to a dramatization of it as you could get. It's for sure a exhausting experience, but very, very satisfying. \n\n[Speaker 0]:\nThere's so much richness. There's so much detail. There's so much research. There's \n\n[Speaker 1]:\nevery possible kind of music that you could think of. There's rap and hip hop and reggae. There's power ballads. There's pop. It goes on and on and on in terms of the musical variety. The lyrics are so dynamic and complex. I feel like I could watch it six times and still find new things or new words, lyrics that I missed. When it comes to recordings of live shows, usually, they're not done that well to where I would say, unless you're a diehard fan of that particular show, it's not gonna do much for you. \n\n[Speaker 0]:\nAnd this, as I was just alluding to, \n\n[Speaker 1]:\nyou get to be right up close to the actors. You can see the sweat and saliva on their faces. You get a chance to really admire the production design as well as the costume design. For me, that's one of the reasons why I don't love theater as much as film is because I feel like I'm if I'm seeing it live, I'm missing a lot of the nuances. One of the more celebrated parts of how this was put together by Miranda is that all of the founding fathers in this are played by nonwhite actors. So it's basically asking the question, what would America look like if it had been founded by not white people, to be blunt. \n\n[Speaker 0]:\nWhat makes it even better is that through the use of music, especially modern music, \n\n[Speaker 1]:\nit seems to have at least opened its audience up to a lot of younger people. Whereas a normal play about Alexander Hamilton on Broadway probably would have not brought that same audience or had the same impact. I'm sure it wouldn't. But with all the \n\n[Speaker 0]:\ntheater productions that I've seen in my life, which is not a ton, but I've seen a decent share, I've never seen one like this that has so much energy, so much life to it. \n\n[Speaker 1]:\nBecause not only talking about the strengths of writing and the cultural aspect, but the in terms of direction, \n\n[Speaker 0]:\nthere's tonal changes instantaneously going from happy to sad. There's anger to happy. Like, it's really just, again, snap your fingers clicks that feel completely fluid. \n\n[Speaker 1]:\nI'm never thinking, like, oh, man. That was jarring and felt out of place. \n\n[Speaker 0]:\nAnd there's also a few little bits of language in there, but I feel like it's done tastefully, and it's also done for comedic effect. So with the time period itself and with the kind of \n\n[Speaker 1]:\nshow that it is, I didn't mind that there was a little bit of that in there. That also, I guess, helps it feel slightly more modern, postmodern, revisionist, whatever. Some notable scenes or songs, the Alexander Hamilton opening, the song the first song by Jonathan Groff who plays the king. I knew Jonathan Groff could sing before this, but he is definitely a standout. His singing is insane. And he had such great comedic timing when it came to the the jabs at the British, at the king, but also hinting at really a tyranny and what he might do to the American people. The satisfied \n\n[Speaker 0]:\nsong by Renee Elise Goldsberry, \n\n[Speaker 1]:\nalso the Yorktown sequence as a whole where it's not only a great song, but you also see the pivotal moment with Alexander Hamilton stepping up and taking command. I could go on and on and on about all the songs. There's dozens of songs in there, and none of them are lackluster. Like, I don't say this often, and especially since I do sometimes rag on Lin Manuel Miranda since Hamilton because I feel like now that he's such a success, Disney wants him to be part of every single musical that they do. And so sometimes his style just doesn't fit or becomes repetitive, or I wish that they would find other voices. I get why they're hiring Miranda for all these things. I would be taking all the jobs \n\n[Speaker 0]:\nthat he's being offered to, so I don't blame him. But as a viewer, sometimes I have issues with that. \n\n[Speaker 1]:\nNevertheless, this is for sure what he will always be known for because it is really the work of genius. I don't know if they're ever gonna do a live action dramatization, like an actual movie or show of this. I could see that happening for sure. \n\n[Speaker 0]:\nAnother personal favorite thing of this sort of project is that with its focus on history and a very pivotal moment in history, both the good and the bad parts, I hope that it makes young people especially curious \n\n[Speaker 1]:\nabout the time period, and they look into it further. \n\n[Speaker 0]:\nSo that is a heavy five out of five. \n\n