Analytical Essay

Singing in the Rain

An Analytical Essay

11/13/2012

One too many love stories portray the stuck up celebrity brought crashing down to the ground by the humbling power of love. Singing in the Rain is refreshing that way. Despite his swooning fans, Don Lockwood is a sensible down to earth kind of guy who values the important things in life. Kathy Selden at first assumes that Don’s pride would be insufferable and tries to bring him down a few notches. She later comes to the pleasing realization that it was not necessary at all. This aspect of Don’s character has a presence throughout the movie and has an overriding effect irrespective of the story arc.

The character of Cosmo is a far cry from the usual freeloading celebrity sidekick. He is portrayed as a talented and exuberant person who often helps Don when he is feeling at a loss. The strong friendship between Don and Cosmo is another aspect of the movie that is not altered in any way by the story arc and is a force to reckon with throughout the movie. This is probably why I noticed more than a couple of medium close-up three-shots of the two friends with one other person. For example, the three-shots of Don and Cosmo with the diction coach, R.F. (the studio head) and Kathy Selden.

The stars are caught in a tricky period of time when Hollywood is in the upheaval of transitioning from silent movies to ‘talkies’. The blossoming love between Don and Kathy and the world of Hollywood movies are the two parallel strains of the story.

A scene where these two worlds clearly meet is the one in which Don professes his love for Kathy in the empty movie set. This throws into sharp relief the fact that their romance is moving in tandem with their professional careers. This scene is a pleasant meeting point for these two sides of the Mobius strip.  The two domains again commingle on an amicable note when Kathy agrees to do the voice for Lina Lamont with no worries about her own career. She does this due to two reasons- one is her selfless love for Don and the other is her strong belief that ‘the show must go on’. Towards the end of the movie, these worlds collide when Lina Lamont tries to exploit Kathy Selden and declares that she is going to keep using Kathy’s voice for her movies. When Kathy runs out of the theatre, Don declares to the audience that the beautiful voice they heard during the movie was indeed Kathy’s. In doing so, he is at the same time declaring his undying love for Kathy.

One cannot write a paper about ‘Singing in the Rain’ and not talk about the singing in the rain!! I think this scene quintessentially captures the fierce happiness of being in love. What makes this song incomparable is that along with each of Don’s lively steps, one gets to hear the splashing dance of the water as well. The diegetic truth of the sound of water makes the song a more tangible and unforgettable experience. It is ironic that this splashing sound has been painstakingly perfected in a sound recording studio and so much effort and deliberation has gone into something that comes off as completely carefree and natural. Along those same lines, I would also like to mention the bright red objects that have been purposefully incorporated into the scene to catch the viewers’ eye during the song- like Don’s shoes, mailbox, flowers, flowerpots and fire hydrant.

Don’s description of the song ‘Broadway Melodies’ towards the end of the movie was remarkable in the way it played with visual volume and depth of field. The song starts off with a medium close-up of Don in a bright light with the rest of the shot completely dark. Soon the camera zooms out whereby Don and the light get really small and the visual volume is taken over by the darkness that surrounds the light. Suddenly, parts of the darkness get lit with brightly colored Broadway signs, the bright purple stage gets lighted, and the stage swarms with dancers. A super colorful musical production ensues which ends as it began, with a medium close-up shot of Don.