Gigi

Rating:
Summary: GIGI-A DISSAPOINTMENT
Review: "Gigi" has a cute storyline but was not made well. There is no foreshadowing and the characters do not draw you in. The story was difficult to understand. Gaston was constantly coming to see Gigi then storming off, just to come right back again. During the time that he wasn't with Gigi, you do not see what he is feeling. This movie is poor, and not worth the time it takes to be seen.

P.S. Did you know that Gaston is at least 14 years older than Gigi?

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious in its sincere and astonishing amorality
Review: What strikes a viewer first is the attitudes in this film. First, there is that astonishing song of a man in his 60s about young girls, and one can conclude immediately that his inclinations are rather licentious. It brings the associations of Lolita right away. Then, we see a story of meticulous calculations of how to sell an innocent girl to a playboy who is generally bored with life and also does not seem to possess high intelligence. The twist is that the innocence outsmarts all the advising experienced courtesans and turns out to be the toughest negotiator, who commands the unthinkable price - the marriage. This film is hilarious at times and quite entertaining, but of course it's an incredibly sexist movie. Also it's interesting to see how society's attitudes have changed - I cannot imagine that any director would in our times risk the theme of admiring aging gentleman dreaming about the young girls - perhaps that was the most shocking and the most distasteful. But I don't think the film can be taken seriously - it's worth its literary origins, that is, the authorship of Colette, whose art is mostly concerned with petit bourgeois views and values.

Rating:
Summary: MINNELLI'S MASTERPIECE: THANK HEAVEN FOR GIGI!
Review: A charming tale about a common girl of no account who is transformed into a sexy courtesan for a rich playboy, GIGI is the musical that walked off with nine Academy Awards in 1958, including Best Picture. Arthur Freed, the producer of nearly all things musical at MGM, put together an impeccable team of artists both in front of and behind the camera and the resulting film is one of a handful of truly enduring landmarks from the golden age.
The summer that director Vincent Minnelli shot in Paris was the hottest on record. Ice at the Palace du Glace melted, fake trees along the boulevard melted and extras were passing out from heat exhaustion by the droves. Still, nothing could stop the film from being made. When all looked as though it might be lost MGM pulled the purse strings shut and called back the crew to finish scenes begun in France on soundstages instead. These few scenes are glaringly obvious.
Maurice Chevalier is Honore, the delightful aged playboy, retired from public scrutiny but never too old to look a pretty young thing in the eye and get away with a flirt or two. Louis Jourdan is his nephew, Gaston, a man who is nudged into the affair with Gigi (Leslie Caron) that ultimately blossoms into grand amour. Hermiona Gingold is wonderfully sardonic as Honore's one time love interest.
Warner Home Video has imported the transfer MGM Home Video first offered and the lack of quality in this disc shows. Though colors are rich and vibrant, there are chips, scratches and dirt inherent in the camera negative used to master this film. There's also a slight hint of fading and some minor shimmering and pixelization that don't distract but are unwelcomed nevertheless. The 5.1 mix does justice to the date audio. No extras. Overall, Warner needs to remaster this movie for the next generation. Until then, thank heaven for GIGI, a musical masterpiece that continues to charm its way into our hearts!

Rating:
Summary: Innocent Young Girl Pursued By Eligible Bachelor
Review: GIGI was the hit movie of 1958 - a story about an innocent young girl (Leslie Caron) being courted in Paris by one of the city's most eligible bachelors (Louis Jordan). This was probably not very remarkable but glittering performances by the likes of Maurice Chevalier, Hermione Gingold, Eva Gabor and Jacques Bergerac made this film pure entertainment at its best. The movie was shot in Paris.

GIGI received Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director (Vincebt Minnelli), Color Cinematography, Art Direction, Song ("Gigi"), Scoring of a Musical Picture, Editing and Costume Design.

Rating:
Summary: A brilliant musical
Review: Gigi is a lavish, big time production with great music,costumes, scenery, and direction.

I first saw this movie as a youth. In Louis Jordan's words 'it was a bore'. I ,however, appreciate this movie much more today although I still find it a little tedious at times. Overall, it is a very engaging and entertaining piece of work - especially the songs many of which are very charming. The casting was simply excellent. Leslie Caron made a perfect Gigi, who is depicted as an unrefined teenage brat. The real star in this movie is Louis Jordan, as Gaston, who has far more screen time than Caron. Maurice Chavalier is also excellent.

Despite possessing wealth, fame and many women in his time, Gaston is bored with his existence. When he is with Gigi, he escapes from his boredom. Gigi brings real joy in his life. Little does he realize until the end of the movie that he is in love with her and does the unthinkable by asking her to marry him.

Rating:
Summary: ugh!
Review: What did all you people see in this dreadful movie? Ugh! The plot is disgusting! 1) Gigi receives training in how to change into a shallow and superficial playgirl. 2) Supposedly dashing playboy decides he wants to cradle rob- I mean, marry - Gigi. Why? Because she's still fresh and unrefined. Get 'em while they're young! So her first and only love is to be some older guy who's already slept with every pretty young thing in Europe.

Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt- that he won't be bored in a month, the way he is with every other thing in his pampered, meaningless life, the best that can come of this relationship is summed up in Bowie's song Chinagirl: "I'll give you television/ I'll give you eyes of blue/ I'll ruin everything you are!"

The right cast maybe could have made this watchable- I mean, Sabrina was pretty disgusting but Hepburn and Bogart pulled it off, more or less. But this cast was wooden! The songs dragged horribly- even the supposedly upbeat ones. The choreography made me laugh, and not in a good way. The only thing I liked was the costumes.

Stay far far away!

Rating:
Summary: A lavish musical of the Belle Epoque
Review: Oddly enough, though this is a pre-ratings musical, it isn't for every family. Turning as it does on the Belle Epoque custom of gentlemen taking courtesans (albeit very beautiful and ladylike ones) as mistresses, it may offend some moral sensibilities and will almost certainly cause younger kids to ask some fairly pointed questions. (It should be pointed out, however, that the word "courtesan" is never mentioned, and that the entire question of sex is handled with all the careful taste we would expect of the late '50's.) The story and characters will be a turnoff for most boys, and on the whole the video is best suited to families consisting of girls over 12.

Set in the slightly decadent upper-class Paris of 1900, Gigi turns on the relationships of the sugar heir Gaston LaChaille (Jourdain), and especially his developing feelings for Gigi (Caron), whom he has known most of her life: her grandmother, Mme. Alvarez (Hermione Gingold), is "an old friend" of his, and her crowded but spotless apartment is "the one place in Paris where I can relax!" It must be admitted that several of the characters are not entirely sympathetic; Gaston suffers from terminal ennui ("The earth is round, but everything on it is flat!" he declares), and has had four or five mistresses, the most recent of whom (played by ZsaZsa Gabor) not only plays him false but resorts to a purposely botched attempt ("the usual...insufficient poison") at suicide (apparently not her first) when he finds her out. Even his cheerful and carefree bachelor uncle Honoré (Chevalier) may seem slightly heartless, with such lines of dialogue as, "Your first suicide!...May it be the first of many!" and "Did you have to improve the arrangement [with Gigi's family]?" On the other hand, both he and Gaston have very warm feelings for Mme. Alvarez (a former mistress of Honoré's), and she in turn seems to have genuine regard for them and great concern for Gigi's reputation and happiness (Gigi's mother, who sings at the Opera Comique, is heard several times but never seen). Gaston at first intends to add Gigi to his string of mistresses, but she is reluctant, knowing that she loves him and that he will eventually tire of her; in the end he realizes that he loves her too, and they are married.

Viewers should recognize most of the musical numbers in this video ("Thank Heaven for Little Girls," "It's a Bore," "I Don't Understand the Parisians," "She is Not Thinking of Me," "The Night They Invented Champagne," "I Remember It Well," "Gigi," "I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore," and "Say a Prayer"), and Chevalier (then 70, but still full of bounce) is definitely among the high points. Admittedly it's difficult to decide how old Gigi is supposed to be: Caron was 27 when the movie was made, and her skirt length in the first half suggests she's supposed to be about 14--an impression bolstered by her bored and rebellious attitude toward the lessons in man-pleasing she's taking from her grandmother's sister, Aunt Alicia (who "went off with her first Sultan" in 1859); yet she soon transforms into a lovely young woman in trailing gown and elaborate hairdress. Girls may identify with her for that very reason, and they will be entranced by the elaborate costumes as well as by the romantic storyline. Still, would-be viewers should keep in mind that the story could not have been told without some very pointed references to a moral code not generally shared even in 21st-Century America, and that even fairly sophisticated young teens may have some searching questions about what they see and hear in it.

Rating:
Summary: Thank Heaven For Gigi
Review: Gigi is what a classic Hollywood musical should be; full of good songs, bright and colorful costumes and sets and fun. Director Vincente Minnelli employed a cast of fabulous French actors to tell the story of Gigi, a young courtesan who becomes the fancy of a wealthy playboy, Gaston. The plan by Gigi's aunt is to have become the mistress of Gaston, but in the end, he cannot resist her charms and he make her his wife. Gigi is played marvelous by Leslie Caron and Louis Jordan is dashing as Gaston. Hermione Gingold & Maurice Chevalier add comic relief as Gigi's aunt and Gaston's uncle respectively. What adds a touch extra to it is that it was actually filmed on location in Paris and that adds authenticity and another character to the film. The music features one of the most memorable songs in the history of musicals, Mr. Chevalier warbling the unforgettable "Thank Heaven For Little Girls". The film was a major success and cleaned up at the 1958 Academy Awards, winning nine awards including Best Picture and Best Director for Mr. Minnelli.

Rating:
Summary: gigi..
Review: cant say i didn't enjoy it.. cuz i did.. and a lot too.. but.. i dont know.. maybe im not grown up enough.. but i didn'tquite understand some of the situations.. -_-;.. but i enjoyed all the songs very much.. leslie caron's acting fit the context.. but her words didn't.. like..waht she said didn't quite go with what she was acting out.. and i didn't like the story that much.. made gigi look so.. so.. i dont know.. she sort of lost that childish charm after she went out with him... i was sad.. -_-.. but the acting was great.. especially gaston's uncle.. i ahve forgotten his name for the moment.. i absolutely adored the songs "thank heaven for little girls".. "its a bore".. and "shes not thinking of me"..^^

Rating:
Summary: A BEAUTIFUL MUSICAL.
Review: A lavish, glossy and eminently tuneful movie treat, GIGI tells the story of an illegitimate waif who lives in 1890's Paris with her Aunt Alicia and her Grandmother (Hermione Gingold). Their plan is transform this waif into an elegant courtesan so that she can become the mistress of wealthy Jourdan, who eventually takes her as his bride because he truly loves her. This throws Gingold for a loop; the family is not used to marriage: Chevalier - Jourdan's father - was once her lover...Produced in Paris, it's a delight from the first frame to the last. All the usual Parisian landmarks are featured: the Tuileries, the Bois de Boulogne, the Palais de Glace, etc. Chevalier steals every scene he's in (except, perhaps when he's singing I REMEMBER IT WELL with Gingold). The original story was based upon a French story by Collette and was ingeniously adapted for a musical stage play by Lerner and Lowe. Caron had played the role on the Paris stage, and here her songs were dubbed by Betty Wand. The film won a grand total of 9 AA & a special Oscar was given to Chevalier for his contribution of over 50 years of performing in the entertainment world.