More Marx Madness

Saw my second Marx Brothers feature on the big screen today - A Night at the Opera. It was eerily like watching a Tamil masala movie (not sure if other Indian language films do this as well). Only in our masala movies, what could have been a perfectly good drama/romance/whatever is rudely interrupted by an unnecessary and jarring comedy track, while here it was the other way around.

The Marx Brothers were brilliant, even more so than in Duck Soup in places, but their hilarious, rip-roaring (I was seriously laughing so loud, but I didn't feel awkward this time thanks to everyone else in the audience also joining in) awesomeness was awkwardly broken up by this completely bland, boring and oh-so-badly acted romance plot. Seriously, even I, with my fanning-only dramatic skills, can do better than the "lead" couple in this movie. And my cat staring boredly at the camera would have more screen presence that these two with their vacuous expressions.

And those songs! Ugh. Almost yelled at the screen a couple of times asking them to shut the fuck up and get the brothers back on screen already. Managed to restrain myself with a great effort and satisfied myself with pulling faces in the dark instead.

The only musical piece I enjoyed was Chico and Harpo's piano and harp bit after the token item/hero song (they seriously showed a random shot of a woman's undies, because hey, why not) in the ship. Chico's piano playing was such a treat to watch. I was as memerised as those children were. Never have I enjoyed watching someone play the piano so much. Harpo's harp (!) piece, on the other hand, quite took me by surprise. It was such a beautiful rendition. He's always the clown - right before going to the harp he takes over the piano from Chico and does a zany bit - so I wasn't expecting him to play something so moving. He does make crazy eyes for a bit in the middle, his playing is still on point.

The comedy, like I said before, was ridiculous and absurd and amazingly funny. Groucho seemed to have fewer puns this time around. Or at least, they weren't coming at jet speed like in Duck Soup. He kills it in that cabin scene though. "Two boiled eggs. Make that three."

Give them a thousand boiled eggs, for crying out loud. They deserve that and more. These guys were so freaking talented. I am officially a fan. 

Duck Soup

Today I watched my first Marx Brothers movie - Duck Soup. I got to watch it on the big screen too. It was a strange experience.

I found the movie very funny. And punny. The puns came so fast that it was hard to keep up. Almost wished for subtitles, but then I figured it would be even harder to read that fast and not miss the riot on-screen.

The strange part of the experience had to do with my fellow audience members. For one, they weren't laughing during a lot of scenes and lines that I thought were hilarious. When they did laugh, some of them laughed way too hard. Like they were determined to find whatever they were laughing at funny. It was weird. Never have I felt more out of sync at a show of any kind.

Anyway, back to the Marx Brothers. Groucho was brilliant. People who say I talk to fast ought to hear this guy go. And unlike me, he is terribly witty. Harpo's pantomime act was ridiculously funny. I'm usually not a big fan of slapstick, but his antics completely won me over. And the timing! Now I get why these guys are comedy legends. Chico didn't make as strong as impression on me, though I did enjoy his trial scene, and Zeppo was essentially just the straight guy with not much of a part to play.

I really have to watch this movie again, at home, where I can pause and rewind and watch slowly so as to properly absorb the incredible amount of funny these guys managed to cram into a movie that is just a little over an hour long.

Here's one of the funniest scenes from the movie.



People were laughing at this scene, but they actually quieted down at the part where the two guys circles each other and switch places! That was the part that tickled me the most and had me laughing out really loud. 'Twas most disconcerting to hear my own laugh contrasted with the relative silence of the rest of the hall.