Description
Presenting the tale of American founding father Alexander Hamilton, this filmed version of the original Broadway smash hit is the story of America then, told by America now.
My rating
4.69
MyShows(94)
| Released: | 03 July 2020 |
| Country of origin: | US |
| Genre: | History, Drama |
| Production companies: | RadicalMedia, 5000 Broadway Productions, Nevis Productions, Old 320 Sycamore |
| Watched by: | 259 of 866 187 |
| Runtime: | 2 hours 40 minutes |
| IMDB rating: | 8.3 of 10 113 865 |
| kinopoisk.ru rating: | 8.38 of 10 3 096 |
I must say right away, I had prejudices about this work from the very beginning, but since I wanted something unusual, and Disney+ recently released a high-quality version, and not some kind of screen from the auditorium, I decided to join the Broadway production praised by all Western critics. What can I say, I am not a fan of historical liberties, when actors with a different skin color play real people. Well, one of the main features of Hamilton is that almost all the actors involved in the production are either black or Hispanic. And everything would be fine, but there is one nuance: the musical tells about the life of the first Minister of Finance, one of the founding fathers of the American nation, Alexander Hamilton, respectively, the play covers both the struggle for independence of the United States from Great Britain, and the events both preceding and following the war of 1776-1782, in addition, Hamilton is not the last The face in the USA intersects on stage with both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (the third president of the United States). And, yes, they are black. Hamilton himself is portrayed by Lin-Manuel Miranda - no kidding, one of the best contemporary composers and poets. You probably don't know him by sight (he is currently playing in the TV series "Dark Beginnings"), but you definitely heard his soundtrack to Disney's "Moana" (and there are at least three memorable songs there). But, interestingly, firstly, Miranda read Hamilton's biography and consulted the author of the book about the first treasurer on many issues. The writer was initially skeptical of Miranda, but after listening to the lyrics of the opening song, he gave the go-ahead. Of course, as a person who did not grow up in the USA, it is quite difficult for me to judge how reliable what is happening on the stage is, but responsible people say that almost everything was about the same, excluding skin color, of course, and the fact that all the actors break into rap. Yes, of course, there is some dramatization, but this is a musical, not a history lesson.
Secondly, Miranda responded rather cunningly to the accusations: they say that the USA is a country of immigrants, and if earlier it was all sorts of Dutch, British and other Europeans, mostly, now blacks are not [so] oppressed, and Latin Americans are the main workhorse of the country. So, if the War of independence had happened now, then not only whites would have gone to the founding fathers. A polemic in the style of "if grandma had a sexual organ", but there is truth in these words. Anyway, despite the fact that I'm basically cool about rap and R'n'B, Miranda reads like a God himself (sings great too), and his cast performs their parts smartly, besides even if you don't know English you will still hear Miranda playing great with the text and rhyming. In general, there is music for the ears not only music, but also words. And rap is still ideal for displaying the revolutionary fervor of young colonists who are ready to go against the metropolis. Although I personally liked the second act more, which tells about, let's say, Hamilton's civilian life after the separation of the United States from Britain. Oh, yes, there's just a hilarious King George III (he is played in the Disney version by Jonathan Groff from the Fincher series Mind Hunter), who acts as a kind of evil ex who goes through all the stages of accepting the fact that his beloved has decided to break up with him. Of course, in many ways, Miranda's approach to attracting national minorities contributed to such popularity of the musical and such a large number of awards, but not only in this case. This is not a horror movie "Away", which won "Oscar" just because. It's really a delightful piece. There are gorgeous thematic refrains (the rivalry of Burr and Hamilton, the desire not to miss Hamilton, the offended George), bright characters (Jefferson, George, Burr, of course, Hamilton himself), juicy rhymes, there are no frankly weak songs (and many of them are excellent multi-genre the mixture, when the evil recitative goes into a standard musical, then all this turns into some funky composition and back).
By the way, due to the fact that Hamilton is built primarily on rap, there is quite a lot of information crammed into the viewer here - with standard singing, Hamilton would have to be released in two parts in order to convey all thoughts and events. Not a masterpiece for all time for everyone (it's still a product tailored for modern liberal Americans), but very, very worthy.
Rating: 7 dueling commandments out of 10 (if you are a fan of musicals and/ or rap, then feel free to throw 1-1.5 points)