I think it is ok that she sounds weak..because of that fact that she is dying from a disease and crying. But the lip-syncing isn't working in this particular scene.
--Alex--
"They're singing, "Happy Birthday"
You just wanna lay down and cry
Not just another birthday, it's 30/90
Why can't you stay 29
Hell, you still feel like you're 22
Turn 30 in 1990
Bang! You're dead, what can you do?"
--TTB
No, I agree, that she definitely should sound weak. But, it doesn't sound like she would be moving down stairs. It also doesn't make sense that they would have her running down stairs - in terms of a directors decision.
I don't like how they did the whole scene.. I think it should have been very different. It reminds of how they did Another Day in a way..and I think she should have been closer to Roger.
i was expecting that too Chloe..why didn't she sing to Roger?
Fantab, I agree
--Alex--
"They're singing, "Happy Birthday"
You just wanna lay down and cry
Not just another birthday, it's 30/90
Why can't you stay 29
Hell, you still feel like you're 22
Turn 30 in 1990
Bang! You're dead, what can you do?"
--TTB
I also felt that by this point Roger had left. She sings the first part to him, then he leaves. Then the others go to comfort her and that's where "Please don't touch me" comes in. I thought that was how they did it on stage too, I could be wrong though.
Well, it was a really short clip... it didn't have the, "You heard? Every word..." exchange and the first set of "Just came to say 'goodbye, love...'." She will be singing that part to Roger, and then it picks up with that clip.
Another Day is one of my favorites parts of the show too. I don't really like the way they did it in the movie, but thinking about the two of them just sitting there singing into each other's faces doesn't sound like that great of an alternative.
I wasn't thrilled with Another Day in the movie, but I couldn't think of a better way to do it (although I'm also not a director who makes millions per film). On the stage you have the benefit of having simultaneous things going on at once, hence the Life Support meeting and Roger/Mimi confrontation. I felt that it would've been even more damaging to cut away from Roger and Mimi completely, and yet they have to explain the addition of the other voices at the end of the song (although I suppose they could just ignore it). I'm not sure.
Everyone kept saying how the medium is different and things need to be more detail oriented in film because you can actually see those details. I understand, and agree, that movies need to have a sense of movement. It wouldn't make sense to not take advantage of the medium and to have two characters just singing to each other for 4 minutes.
That said, I have no idea what they *should* have done.
Wow, I didn't like that clip at all. I think the scene would be a lot more emotionally charged if Mimi were to sing it directly to Roger. I don't really like the car shots.
I've thought about this a lot too. Someone pointed out that in the stage show, there's more time between Out Tonight and Another Day (during which people applaud), so there's more time for the kiss. That part did feel a little rushed, and I also feel that, like most of the Roger/Mimi kisses, this one was shot a little timidly. It could have been a lot juicier.
Someone posted on Adam's IMDb board that he seemed a little mean to Mimi in this scene, and that brings up another issue. With Roger being older here, he can't get away with as much bad behavior as a younger version. Also, Mimi isn't quite as much a hellion in the movie, I think. She comes across as both more sophisticated and more innocent, somehow. Their whole relationship is different.
As I've said before, I think Mimi is one of those girls who projects a lot of toughness on the outside, but is really an incredibly vulnerable mess on the inside. Rosario is so strong herself, I'm not sure if that came across as much as it needs to. Mimi can't be the ministering strong person who's pushed away by Roger, but the equally screwed up one who's expressing it in a different way. I don't really think of her as embodying the "no day" philosophy so much as parroting it at this point. She only really learns it later.
Everyone's saying she should be singing it to Roger, but she doesn't sing it to Roger onstage. He's already stormed away and she's calling after him, which is very similar to her looking out the window after him.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never
knowing how
Right... Roger's always left right before the others come in and she says, "Please don't touch me, understand I'm scared..." Before that, they will be singing to each other. I thought that it was a rather nicely-done scene, honestly.
