Hamilton: Modern Approach to History Telling!
(Since its broadway release in 2015, the musical Hamilton has been widely acclaimed and this year the live recording of the theatre performance has been released as a movie a month ago. I watched it today and wrote this review. Again this is a long review. 🙂 I can’t help myself when it comes to writing, as it serves as an escape from the regular humdrum of everyday life. If you don’t have time or patience to go through all the review, just read first two and last two paragraphs.😁 Have a good Day, folks!)
What comes to your mind when you hear about musical movies like Les Misérables (2012) or La La Land (2016) or even The Greatest Showman (2017)? Musical numbers together with the narratives that builds up the plot and sung in classical/traditional tunes with rhymes and flowery language (and may be even boring some times). But not the Hamilton. Hamilton follows the modern approach to music choosing rap, hip-hop and R&B besides the traditional show-tunes. It’s back-to-back musical numbers without any dialog in transition (called “sung-through” in artistic terms) is what makes it more exhilarating to watch.
Based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, Founding Father of USA, this musical film is the edited version of live recording of critically acclaimed and hit 2015-broadway-musical of the same name. It follows the life of Hamilton in two acts with first act covering his life immediately after arriving to New York City until the end of the American Revolution and the second act covering the second half of his life as the first Secretary of Treasury of US, his political career, his son’s death and finally his own death.
Since its release on last 4th of July, its hype has resurfaced similar to what it was during 2015–16 broadway rendition. Although I admire theatre, I could not watch it live back then and was waiting for its recording. I was skeptical whether it truly deserved the hype it has gained throughout these years. The answer is yes it totally does and I believe that it’s actual popularity has been undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic, since it would have hit movie theatre and gained more publicity throughout the world.
So, what is the reason behind its popularity?
1) UNIQUE MUSIC STYLE
Hip-hop musical style is rarely (never?) seen as the foundation of a musical movie and let alone a historical movie. But Hamilton goes for modern music in form of rap and pop to narrate the story of a historical figure.
The music is beautifully written and the lyrics are intense and catchy which will keep you engaging throughout. The musical goes so far as to present the historical debates in the form of rap battle/slam-poetry and even introducing the beat-boxing at one point. The fact that Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also stars as the titular character, wrote the music and lyrics of the musical single-handedly, speaks volumes of this talented person. and just imagine that there are 46 songs in total!
An excerpt from my favorite song of the musical, Wait for It, shows the lyrical intensity
Death doesn’t discriminate
Between the sinners and the saints
It takes and it takes and it takes
And we keep living anyway.
We rise and we fall and we break
And we make our mistakes.
And if there’s a reason I’m still alive
When everyone who loves me has died
I’m willing to wait for it.
…
I am the one thing in life I can control
I am inimitable I am an original
I’m not falling behind or running late
Also the songs like Hopeless, Satisfied are such a pleasure to ears.
2) STORY TELLING
To present a biopic story spanning 30 years into movie itself is very difficult and more so, unimaginable in a theatrical performance with raps. Most of the storytelling is sung-and-rapped-through except for a brief section that contains dialog. There are songs that make you laugh and songs that make you cry. If you think about the amount of effort and time needed to make this unique story-telling happen, you will understand why Hamilton joins the famous musical theaters like The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables or The Producers. Stage decorations, performance and direction just adds up to the story.
3) CASTING REPRESENTATION
The most widely talked topic of Hamilton is the diverse cast ensemble it represents. Even though the story is about a bunch of white guys, most of the casts are non-white actors from Black to Hispanic to Asian and mixed-races background. In fact only one of the actor is white actor. This was a deliberate act not only for the purpose of the racial representation but also to stick to the realism that rap and hip-hop are generally sung by the “non-whites”.
4) DIRECTION AND PERFORMANCE
Direction by Thomas Kail is highly commendable along with the stage design and decorations. Most notable effects are the rewind and slow-motion scenes. The transitions between scenes are so fluid that you don’t even notice a break between them. Even though the performance of Miranda as Hamilton is not bad but compared to rest of the casts especially Christopher Jackson (as George Washington), Jonathan Groff (as King George), Phillipa Soo (as Eliza, Hamilton’s wife) and Renée Elise Goldsberry (as Angelica, Eliza’s elder sister), his performance is boosted by their associated acts which Miranda admits himself too in an interview. But no-one else except the writer himself could have done justice to the character, given the huge number of lines needed to deliver. The complexity of the character portrayal and political dynamics are also beautifully executed.
5) MODERN DAY ISSUES IN A HISTORICAL MOVIE
It also goes so far as to include the several issues that are hot topics in America in recent times along with the dark history of slavery. The issues of Immigrants is vocalized through the lyrics like “Immigrants? We get the job done!” and fact that Hamilton himself was an immigrant who played an important role for the establishment of what we know today as modern day USA. Similarly the issue of feminism is presented through the strong portrayal of The Schulyer Sisters and significant playtime for the female characters as well.
So what’s the hype! It’s a hip-hop broadway musical with uncommon cast selection and incredible character development/story-telling. Lyrically it shines, musically it is soothing and performance wise it is brilliant. It has made watching history fun and created a whole lot of new fans of musical theatre. You can simply enjoy the beautiful story-telling and musical performance throughout. Even though it is 2 hours and 40 minutes long, it will keep you entertained in such a way that still leaves you wanting more. This musical is that engaging!
P.S.: Don’t forget to turn on the subtitles though!
My Rating: 9.8/10
IMDB 8.8, Rotten Tomatoes 98%
Available on Disney+
