Sunday in the Park with George (1986)

Just perfect...

I'll tell you why so serious

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

This Public Broadcast System film of an American Playhouse production just wasn't very interesting or entertaining to me. "Sunday in the Park with George" is billed as a comedy, drama and romance. Perhaps there was some insight in the promoters who didn't list it as a musical. It is a musical, but one that is very short on music and talent. The script for this play and film is very slow. The comedy is very little. And the music is sparse. The method used, of the painter set a little off-stage with the players on stage is so theater-bound as to be a distraction for film. It's one thing to go to a theater to see a live play, and another to see a story on film that should eliminate all the periphery. In live stage, it is part of the setting. In film, it's a distraction The story itself isn't that good or interesting. The talent is so-so. I enjoy Bernadette Peters as an actress. As a singer, she is mediocre. But musicals should have excellent singers. Alas, this production was an early indication that the days of truly great singers for films (and stage) had passed. Musicals since the last couple decades of the 20th century have had scores with jazzy numbers that tend to play over the vocals of the singers. So, better singers aren't as necessary. But this seems to create a type of artificial musical. No longer do we have films with glorious voices and songs that made up many of the grand musicals of the past. Are there no singers to replace Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand and their likes? Are there no new singing actresses to replace Judy Garland, Deanna Durbin, Doris Day, Mitzi Gaynor or Shirley Jones?There seem to be no male singers either to replace Gordon MacRea, Howard Keel, Nelson Eddy, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, or Bobby Darin. Nor are their modern song and dance talents the likes of Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Ginger Rogers. This filmed stage production just is not my cup of tea. One suspects it plays to a very narrow audience. Unless one is used to live theater and less than great musical entertainment, this film isn't very likely to be very enjoyable.

The fine rhythm match Seurat's unique painting. And changing keys in the middle of piece express complex feeling of George or Dot. I think the music is perfect to this musical. We can be surprised at by many scenes, because the story gets on without giving us enough information about their relationship. That makes the musical more interesting. The script makes two talking coincide with each other. It is great. At first two talking have different words, but their words come to meet. Expressing two scenes on one stage at the same time is very difficult but the script makes it possible. There are many rhymes in both songs and lines. Especially during painting, he mumbles rhythmically. Of course the songs are rhymed too. The music, performance and story harmonize well. The musical was made many years ago. Now there is higher technology for musical so that we can CG. Though this musical uses simple devices, we can enjoy it very much. The wonderful direction, script, songs and actors make it a great musical.

It is now about 20 years after the original airing of this masterpiece, and all it took was hearing one song for the whole of it to come back to me: the music, the colors, the way a masterpiece of visual art was brought to life on the stage.I knew nothing of Georges Seurat prior to seeing the play. In fact, i still know practically nothing about him. That didn't matter one bit. This play uses the birthing of a new art form to examine life, love, culture and personal commitment.Mandy Patinkin's performance in this televised version was masterful. The entire production was compelling and emotional. And -- in a rare treat -- the videotaped version of the live stageplay was effective and artfully accomplished.If you have never seen "Sunday in the Park with George," find a way to do so. The show will not disappoint.

If you or someone in your life is an artist (regardless of the art form), this is a must-see. Sondheim and Lapine have illuminated the nature of art and artists in a way I've never seen surpassed. Yes, the songs are wonderful and Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin, the consummate interpreters of Sondheim, have never been better. But the insight into the often perplexing and frustrating world of the arts goes so much deeper. This is not a mere entertainment (though entertain it does) but a soul-searching treatise on what we do and why we are so compelled to do it. Watch this one and be prepared to see life a little differently after the experience.