saint_monkey

One of the things that i got Mystery for christmas was the excellent DVD for the film Moulin Rouge. On the commentary track, the director said that the idea for the movie came from watching the audience participate in an outrageous "bollywood" musical. The filmgoers "entered into a contract" with the film, and an ulimate suspension of realiy was created. The film was a rollercoater of tragedy, slapstick, romance, and was peppered with musical numbers ala a 40's or 50's studio spectacular. He wanted to transfer this to western cinema with a trio of films that he calls his "Red Curtain" trio. Moulin Rouge is the last of the trio, the first one being "Strickly Ballroom," and the second his hyperreal remake of "Romeo and Juliet." Of the three Moulin Rouge suceeds the best, and this is owed i think, to it's main device, turning popular songs of the 70's and 80's into big musical numbers. This was a way to invest the film with already established memories and feelings. Sort of an instant establishment of mood, giving us a song that we are familiar with, and already makes us feel a certain way, and then translating it to a new environment.

For some reason, this reminds me of the Dark Side of the Moon/Wizard of Oz Synchronicity debate, which (with the advent of DVD) tried to tell us that the Pink Floyd album had been precisely written and cueued to play over the visual track of "The Wizard of Oz." For some reason the mood of the songs, and even in many cases, the words, fit the visual story very well.

Which brings me to the point (about freakin time.) If you were asked to choose a classic story, one that most people knew by heart, and were asked to pick popular songs for plot points of your choosing, what story would you choose? what songs would you choose for each point? In other words, what songs say "sadness?" which ones say "comedy?" which ones could be subtly twisted to fit the situation? ("Like a Virgin" is perverted in such a manner with hilarious results in "Moulin Rouge.")