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I'm interested in your use of the term Verklärung, Xoc, www.answers.com gives it as a synonym of transfiguration, which in a biblical context is "[t]he sudden emanation of radiance from the person of Jesus that occurred on a mountain." Is that what you meant? That sudden radiance?
I know nothing of Richard Strauss, a composer?
The term also reminds me of the clever self-reflexivity negotiated in the narrative of "Singing in the Rain", Jackie, which the studio setting allows (And also how the Spectacle/Narrative divide works in it, a very different approach to that of the Katakuris, but to much the same effect in parts).
Like you say, the film heralds the end of the silent era and the breakthrough into "talkies", (The Jazz Singer is even footnoted throughout the film). And Singing in the Rain constantly reminds us of the gauze of superficiality applied in the making of musicals, employing previously used musical numbers, forefronting the perilous reality of Lina "I CANNNNN'T" Lamont, the inherent hamminess of "The Duelling Cavalier", down to a specific scene where Don deconstructs the magic of cinema (just lights/windmachines/sound stages/etc) to Kathy, and then breaks into a faux/real love song.
Of course, then, Singing in the Rain goes on to use all these elements, didactically telling us what it is that exactly makes a good musical (and a good star)! Clear breaks in narrative structure making for glorious spectacle like "Good Morning!", where despite clear theatre-esque frontality and without so much as a camera move, the audience laps it up unquestioningly. (Well I did at least).
I do really love Singing in the Rain, though, every now and then I still find myself humming one of its tunes. |
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