7) Singin’ in the Rain
Singin’ in the Rain is just nuts. It’s similar to The Artist in terms of issues pertaining to Hollywood transitions from silent movies to talkies and everything, and both feature a fair share of tapdancing. It’s also similar in that before seeing it you’re expecting it to be one thing and it’s kind of a weird little thing all unto itself.
I feel like one scene sort of sums up the whole movie. A diction coach is teaching the Gene Kelly character proper enunciation by repeating the phrase “Moses supposes his toeses are roses which Moses supposes erroneously.” Donald O’Connor arrives and they decide, as one does, to ridicule the teacher by turning the silly phrases into a rhythmic song, and then proceed to dance like crazy people. It’s glorious. That’s pretty much what the whole movie is like, and I can’t imagine a person responding to it with anything but, for lack of a better word, glee.
8) Happy-Go-Lucky
Here’s one movie that I can understand, maybe even expect people to hate for the first few scenes. We have a character, Poppy, who would probably be characterized by many as “bubbly,” having an almost suffocatingly positive disposition and seeming utterly carefree. As things progress though, we see her encounter less than positive individuals, some that are downright creepy, and we learn that she’s not just a peppy Poppy unaware of her surroundings and oblivious to how people might perceive her.
She’s instead an incredibly savvy, people-smart person who has made a conscious choice to try to maintain positivity and give people the benefit of the doubt. We expect her to be naive but she’s anything but. So she eventually wins us over with her good spirits and humor, but this little wrench thrown in by writer-director Mike Leigh actually makes her extremely admirable. This is one that requires a little more patience but the payoff is worthwhile.
Happy movies like Happy-Go-Lucky, which goes a bit dark but then returns to the light, are underrated. They’re also more than mere escapism, which today tends to rely more on awesomeness and overwhelming action instead of simple but strong enjoyment. It also takes more than a Disney sensibility where the cute supplants the smart and the fun suffers. It would be great to see more movies that are both happy and serious, because these are not antithetical concepts, get recognized for their quality and appeal as broad works that can still be just really good.