I remember watching the Academy Awards when this film swept a bunch of categories. As a SERIOUS theater kid in the early 2000s, all I wanted in life was to see this film…. but I was “too young to watch something with that many scantily clad women killing people in it”… So I bided my time, watched it, and died because it was so perfect.
Chicago is a film shot through the jazz-age imagination of a cheating murderer; Roxie Hart. She envisions using the publicity from her trial to launch her singing career. However, everything does not go to plan and she is forced to fight for her life on death row with the help of the best criminal lawyer in Chicago. He frames her as a sweet repentant wife and gets her off. She then starts a career with another murdering singer Velma Kelly, who was a performer before killing her husband and sister.
This film won so many awards in 2002. From art direction to best picture, no one could deny that this was an incredible film. After seeing the commercials with all of the 20s costumes, hair, and makeup, I died ,and looked through photos from the film all the time. The music and choreography are absolutely stunning and lent credibility to musical films, which led to quite a few following in its footsteps. (see Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, Rent, etc)
One note, this film is about jazz in the 1920s. “Acts” that were in a speakeasy were essentially strip shows. So there is not a ton of clothing worn while dancing. However, this film is an incredibly high quality musical film and is important in the reemergence of musicals in the 2000s. Still obsessed with it 16 years later. At the very least, watch some of the songs on Youtube.
This post is part of my year end challenge to watch every movie that I own. If you want to see the original post with a full list of all of the films. Click here.
sophisticatednerdreview.wordpress.com 
One thought on “Chicago | Film No. 54”