CONTENT WARNING: This review, film and/or soundtrack contains themes of sex, murder and infidelity.
I am back with another musical review. This one has a very strong basis on jazz and tells a story of fear of missing out. Let’s get into it.
Background
“Chicago” was originally a play written by Maurine Dallas Watkins in the 1920s. The play was meant to be a satirical interpretation of a pair of unrelated murder cases at the time involving two women who were eventually acquitted. The play was brought to Broadway in 1926 but is now referred to as “Play Ball,” so as to avoid confusion with the more modern musical. About 50 years later, the play was picked up and reimagined for a Broadway musical in 1975. In 2002, the story came to the screens starring Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah and Richard Gere.
About the Musical
This musical is supposed to make light of the subject of the “corruption” that followed the jazz age. Back in the 1920s, jazz stormed the nightlife of Chicago. The main character, Roxie Hart, is a young woman with dreams of being on stage. She is portrayed as apathetic and reckless as well as quick to crumble under pressure. She is unfaithful, quick to lie to get what she wants and is extremely manipulative.
Roxie finds herself at the Cook County Jail, specifically on Murderess’ Row. There, she is surrounded by the other murderess’, including Velma Kelly, a stage performer of whom Roxie is a big fan. All these women are under the supervision of Matron “Mama” Morton, who is corrupt. Mama is very honest and to the point as well as the ladies’ biggest fan and adversary. Mama makes it a point to inform Roxie that not only was she being quite naive upon her incarceration but that she needed to realize that the city of Chicago ate up any and all scandals surrounding murderess’ and their cases.
Roxie seeks out the help of infamous lawyer Billy Flynn, who is representing Velma. He is known for never having lost a case, especially one in which a woman was being convicted. It is discovered that he is simply a puppet master and his clients his marionettes. Billy rearranges Roxie’s story to be one of an innocent young woman in a convent who was seduced by the hubbub of the big city and ran away into a marriage too hastily. He portrays her as a reformed sinner who only killed a man in self-defense.
It quickly becomes evident that Billy’s biggest client is himself and his angle is whatever works for him. Roxie is stripped of any of her power in the case and is forced to do what Billy tells her to, especially in the new light of the first woman in Chicago being served the death sentence.
Implications
In the end, once Roxie and Velma are acquitted, they join together to make a hit show that no one could resist. They use their notoriety and the thirst for the forbidden that runs rampant in the city to make it big in a Faustian fashion.
An additional detail that is seen toward the end of the movie would be a woman straight up murdering someone in front of the court house right when Roxie’s innocent verdict is announced. To me, this feels like a stab at the 15 minutes of fame attempt coupled with the fear of missing out. Given how much fame Roxie and Velma as well as many others received for their actions, it is not surprising that others might try to attain a similar spotlight, especially if they can get acquitted.
Looking at this from a little bit of a different angle, this story is meant to show how the big city and jazz has a bad reputation. Young women especially would be dragged into these atmospheres of worldly pleasures such as jazz music, alcohol and sex, the implication being that these pleasures chip away at these peoples’ morality and values. I would interpret this movie and story in general as a stab at the well-established misconception of the 1920s that jazz music was evil and corrupted the youth, especially young women.
Music
Overall, this film is full of some amazing performances, the most noteworthy I think would be “Cell Block Tango.” I have seen and heard reference to this song in many mediums throughout my life and personally really enjoy the song. A few other noteworthy ones might be “All That Jazz,” a summation of the worldly pleasures of the big city, or “Mister Cellophane,” a narrative of an innocent man whose only desire is to be loved and seen by the people he loves.
I think this is a wonderful movie to watch with a lot of lessons on the idea that sometimes life isn’t fair. I would highly recommend the movie even if you aren’t really a fan of jazz.
— dj dragonfly
