Gigi is kind of an odd choice for Best Picture--one of those outliers that doesn't seem to fit with the typical fare that the Academy tends to go for. It has some of the hallmarks: it is pretty to look at, especially the set design, cinematography and locations in Paris. Its cast is made up of some famous Continental actors like Maurice Chevalier, Jacques Bergerac, and Eva Gabor.
But while it is a musical, it's no Sound of Music or West Side Story. The songs are not memorable, and barely feel like songs. The actors will randomly start speaking in rhyme, and then segue into singing that sort of half feels like it's still speech. The story isn't the highlight, either--it's about a playboy bored with the game of love and a girl raised to be a high-end courtesan but not yet entered "the life" coming to discover they've found something more genuine in each other. There is kind of a big age difference between them (she's probably 16 and he's mid-30s), which might squick some people today, though the actors did a good job of making the connection and its evolution seem as not-creepy as they could manage.
Not bad by any means, and hardly a painful watch as some previous have been, but certainly not one of the more memorable Best Pictures.
Watched: March 3, 2019
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