Rob Marshall to Bring FOLLIES to the Big Screen? — Page 5

I don't know about that PalJoey, there's some creative and imaginative people in Hollywood out there who would do justice to FOLLIES without resorting to live production on television which would be a HUGE disservice to FOLLIES big time.

At the risk of sounding like an Old-Follies-Queen-for-Whom-Nothing-Will-Ever-Compare-to-the-Original-Production, no, there are not.

Name one...

---

George Romero's Follies




Seriously, Jeunet is not at all the person for this musical.

Whimsical is not what Follies is or should be.

---

Updated On: 12/2/14 at 04:53 PM

"At the risk of sounding like an Old-Follies-Queen-for-Whom-Nothing-Will-Ever-Compare-to-the-Original-Production, no, there are not.

Name one..."

Darren Aronofsky

And I hope you're joking MM, unless you want SDP to be a heroin addict and PRS to be a bipolar murdeing sociopath

LOL: PalJoey is as over-protective about FOLLIES as I am about WEST SIDE STORY. I totally get it.

Look, I mean, I have no doubt that the original version of Follies can never ever be recreated, and it was a special production. But this doesn't negate the fact that it's a wonderful show with an even better score and could work well as a movie.

Again, very few people who are currently living got to see the original Follies production. It really wouldn't take away from anything.

@Fantod Well, that settles that then. Rob Marshall for me all the way and I'm NOT going to change my opinion about it.

Thank god Chris Columbus and Adam Shankman are not interested...phew.

Updated On: 12/2/14 at 05:29 PM

"Name one..."

I still think Joe Wright can weave magic spells between stage and screen realities. He loves theater, he can scramble time periods effectively within the same frame, and he can get a whole ballroom full of dancers and camera operators to move in sync to create thrilling visions of dance on screen. The real question is: does he have any interest in FOLLIES?

All of these people would only be capable of turning Follies into an expensive and stupid-looking bomb--especially Rob Marshall--the way Ken Russell overinflated The Boyfriend to the point that the material made little or no sense and the spectacle was interesting to no one.

None of them would have the subtlety combined with the musical-comedy know-how to do what Michael Bennett and Hal Prince did with the staging. So please spare me any British, French or Australian directors who don't understand the entertainment tradition that Follies comes out of--or who would take it as an opportunity to critique American imperialism and the hollowness of the American dream.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet would make overstress the fantastical, turning the whole thing into Loveland.

Darren Aronofsky would make the whole thing bleak. We've had bleak Follies: They're no fun, even for the cognoscenti.

I'll wait to see Joe Wright's take on Pan before forming an opinion on whether or not his Follies would be good, but in general, if British directors want to do musicals, they should stick to British musicals. I'm tired of listening to people defend Trevor Nunn's direction of American musicals just because he's Trevor Nunn. he still was stupid about Oklahoma and Night Music. (And don't get me started about the Brit who messed up the Roundabout Follies.

And please don't suggest Bill Condon. I like Bill Condon, but he's only going to **** it up as well.

The only directors who could have done Follies are dead: Stanley Donen, Robert Wise and Chuck Walters.


And confidentially to the poster who said:

Again, very few people who are currently living got to see the original Follies production. It really wouldn't take away from anything.

I've been through Brenda Frazier, but I'm still here, baby.

---

Updated On: 12/2/14 at 08:00 PM

Great read PalJoey, sure I don't necessarily agree with it but I can understand where your coming from.

Yeah Darren would've made the whole thing bleak and I don't need to remind you of THAT production 13 years ago.

But still there is still some upcoming talent in Hollywood who would do a great job with it, I don't know who but they're out there in the dark.

A Robert Wise FOLLIES would've made my dreaming brain explode.

The fabled 1971 MGM Follies film is the only one that could have done the material justice. This 2013 article from The Paris Review (of all places) is frequently gasp-inducing.



THE PARIS REVIEW: Loveland

---

PJ - that was a great read. Thanks for sharing.

Start at 1:20
Hats off. Here they come ...