Hamilton
Do you really need me to review Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton?” It debuted on Broadway in 2015, and became a cultural juggernaut. It’s won every type of award it was eligible for. Tickets are almost impossible to get, whether due to demand or resell price gouging. The soundtrack is the obsession of everyone who’s listened to it. I’m five years late to the party, and I could not be happier that Disney changed course, moved its release of this 2016 recording with the original cast to this summer, bringing it to Disney+ during a global pandemic that has shuttered movie theatres. And you know what? If they do decide to release it in theatres in the future, I’ll watch it there, as well. It hooked me all the way in.
Within the current cultural and political climate, Miranda’s musical, inspired by Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton, is a furiously entertaining breathe of fresh air. By casting this telling of the life of Founding Father Hamilton with a largely non-white cast, Miranda is telling multiple stories at once- the one on the surface that is Hamilton’s life; the story of the minorities, slaves and immigrants whom have had to fight, tooth and nail, to get basic human rights in a country devoted to the idea of individual freedom; and it’s also the story of the political process, which was frustratingly complicated and obscure, even during the birth of this thing that is the United States of America. It’s also a familiar story of rags to riches, and how that can lead to ruin when personal ambition gets in the way, which will lead him to that fateful duel with Aaron Burr, and him joining so many others who fought for the country, buried in the ground, before the fruits of his vision for this country came to full bloom. I was enthralled from the first note, and all the way to the end.
I’m curious how “Hamilton” would love as a cinematic experience on sets, but the way director Thomas Kail shoots this stage production feels like a better way to see this for the first time. When Joel Schumacher’s “Phantom of the Opera” movie came out in 2004, I largely bounced off of the story, and while some of the music engaged me, dramatically, the story fell flat; to be fair, every cinematic version of that story has been less than enthralling to me. In 2017, though, my wife and I went to a production of “Phantom” at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, and for the first time, the story came alive. This film for “Hamilton” had that same effect on me, even if I wasn’t in the live audience. Kail shoots the production with a cinematic eye, while also allowing it to breath as a performance, and capture the emotions illicit-ed in both the music, and the performances. If, like me, you waited for an opportunity to see the play before diving into this wonderful stew of musical genres from Miranda, you will not be disappointed.
2020 has sucked in so many ways. We have been deprived of a typical summer movie season, rife with big event films, although we have not been short of great cinema, thanks to studios like IFC Films and Neon, as well as Netflix. And politically, we’re as divided as we have been at any time since the Civil War ended; oh, and we’re also in the middle of a global pandemic. “Hamilton” satisfies so many needs, not just as simple entertainment, but as a political lesson to be learned, and an experience that can connect people across generations, across interests, and across worldviews. In a year begging for an cinematic experience that transcends quality to entertain us, and make us feel like better days could be ahead, “Hamilton” is here to save the day.
