Oklahoma! (1999)

Why so much hype?

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I have some trouble adapting to stage musicals when I see them on the stage. There's something about the fact that the audience is there for pure — absolutely pure — entertainment in the form of singing and dancing, and somehow need a narrative to make it palatable. Opera is even worse for me in this regard. Oh, I know that the narrative can set up the emotional context for a song, so that it can be more effective, but the whole construction seems to reflect some fundamental flaw in our makeup, like our affection for sugar.When a stage musical is filmed, the problem gets worse. Most of these simply take what works on stage and tries to recapture it using the same techniques and values. "Seven Brides" is my touchstone for this. The result is bunch of clumsy stagecraft that does not translate to cinema, combined with those radical shifts from the story to the songs. Usually the older shows have this problem, because the later ones though made for stage are informed by cinema.This avoids all that, by reimagining one of the old horses in a new mold. Apparently, it was quite an effort because the "Foundation" that has a stranglehold over how the material is used had to negotiate every nit. This idea that some survivors of an artist should benefit from something they had no hand in is vile enough; that they can smother its very artistic soul by legal means is worse.Anyway, what we have here is stage presentation reimagined for modern tastes. That means solving the integration of the songworld and the stageworld. The extras explain how this was nurtured, essentially by honing the show by forcing the actors to speak the lines. There's some clever thinking about the dances along the same lines.Then that is restaged for the camera. It pretends to be a performance in front of an audience, as shots from a real performance are spliced in. But the (valuable) extras reveal the rework to bring it to the camera. This is about as good as it gets unless we have something born out of the camera like Taymor has done.I came to this because "Australia" is sticking with me. I learned that Hugh Jackman (unknown to me) is famous for his musical stage presence. Even though this is quite old in this context, I searched it out and was rather amazed. He sings, he dances. He has presence. In fact, his presence is so strong, he gets away with being not excellent in those areas. Presence.That's what he brought to "Australia" that mattered; it seems to be indicative of the national character. The very same scope of presence as Wolverine grates, because it is a substitute. There is some considered colorwork here too.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

I thought I'd ordered the original movie version of Oklahoma! but was nonetheless excited to see that I had the Hugh Jackman filmed stage play instead. Having never seen any version of the play before, it was a treat to see how it was staged. Everyone seems to sing well, dance well and portray the story well enough but for some reason my attention started to flag before the end of the first act. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it was the thick accents, which I know is integral to the play, but grew wearisome anyway. Most of the songs I was familiar with but it was nice to hear some of the lesser known songs as well. I felt a couple of the extended ballet scenes went on a bit too long. Found myself fast-forwarding through the DVD to get past them once the point was made. It's a sweet show, very old-fashioned, a bit long, but well made and for that I give it a mixed review. I can't say I didn't enjoy parts of it, but I also can't say that I enjoyed the overall program.

I have only just found this website and this thread so I would like to post my comments about the National Theatre's production of Oklahoma. I was lucky enough to go to the show at the NT and was absolutely entranced by it all. As most people have said Hugh Jackman was a revelation. I saw the show before he became famous as Wolverine so had no preconceptions about him. I am so glad that he has done so well.Maureen Lipman was terrific as Aunt Eller. When the video was shot I understand she was suffering from an abcess on her tooth but you would have never known.Must watch the video again.

I saw it only for Hugh Jackman, and I had no further knowledge about the production but it was one of the best plays I had ever seen even if it was on TV. Of course, Hugh Jackman was fabulous, absolutely fabulous! But also, his supporting cast was great. I loved Aunt Eller, and especially the chemistry and acting between Ado-Annie and Will Parker. Jud Fry was amazing and Ali Hakium was hilarious. I loved the movie but I wasn't quite sure about the audience. The songs were stuck in my head for weeks afterward.Anyways, I loved the movie. Hats off to all the cast,10/10