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"There is nowhere to go that up." These are the words that Angela Lansbury and the cast of "Mary Poppins Returns" send you back to the end of Rob Marshall's sequel to Disney's famous 54-year-old classic, and they do a good job of illustrating why the movie is, perhaps unexpectedly, a player of best Oscar film in good faith this year.
The movie's musical came into the running this week with screenings of guilds and academies, taste creators and more, in the hope of what would be rightly considered impossible : a hug. But Marshall and his company can breathe a sigh of relief because everything happens like a gangbuster. There was applause at the Producers Guild screening on Wednesday. A long standing ovation greeted the director of the film and was presented at the screening of the entire guild Saturday. On Sunday, members of the Academy of Arts and Film Science were watched and burst when Dick Van Dyke, 91, went on screen. They also met the film's talent with a standing ovation.
"It does not sound like the right movie at the right time," said moderator David Friendly at the beginning of the PGA Q & A session. Indeed, there is not much in the Oscar hunt this year that looks like a balm in the manner of "Mary Poppins Returns". Perhaps the "Green Book", Universal's racial welfare tragedy drama, is the only thing that gets closer. And this is not a presentation of saccharine; it is an earned emotion that feeds directly on the spirit of the times.
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"This is a very complicated time in which we live," said Marc Platt, one of the film's producers, at the PGA event. "It's so helpful to export this to the world at a time when we want more optimism and hope, which we all had as children."
Given the political climate in the United States and the United Kingdom, this feeling is deeper than platitude. The best landscape in pictures abounds with fabulous artisans who collectively bring together an exceptional price list. But since the sorrow of "A star is born" to the exasperating analysis of "Vice" to the barbed atmosphere of "The favorite", there are not many options for voters looking for a respite emotional. "Mary Poppins Returns" is perfect.
"Mary Poppins" original was the first film that Marshall saw in his childhood and he remained faithful to it. If a suite based on the author P.L. The other novels of Travers would never be made, he wanted to be the only one to do it. "I wanted to protect the original film," he said during the PGA screening.
With producer John DeLuca, he has also always wanted to create an original musical, having previously adapted Broadway hits such as "Chicago", "Nine" and "Into the Woods". However, the works of Travers are very episodic and miss everything. So they had to find their story.
The books were written in the 1930s and you can feel the Great Depression going through them. Marshall and his company wanted to use this setting, and since Walt Disney had created the original "Mary Poppins" in 1910, it was possible to catch up with Michael (Ben Whishaw) and Jane (Emily Mortimer), the children of Banks 25. years later.
Emily Blunt was chosen to follow the huge performance of Julie Andrews (who won an Oscar). She told the audience of members of the Screen Actors Guild that she was terrified of making music and dance sequences incorporating an animation that was obviously not fully contextualized on the set. But that's where the two-month rehearsal process came in. Marshall wanted Blunt and the other actors to do it again and again "until it's in your body," Blunt said.
Marshall met lineman Manuel Miranda in New York, between Broadway broadcasts, hit "Hamilton", to seduce him with the role of Jack, the lamp lighter who joins Poppins and the new ones. Banks kids their many adventures. Miranda was eager to participate in something in which he was just the actor, not a writer, and of course, his musical chops fit him like a glove. The rehearsal sequence was even longer than that of "Hamilton," he said in the screening for the entire guild.
Meryl Streep and Colin Firth saw the inherent potential of the material at this point in history. "They wanted to be part of the message of this movie in the world now," Marshall told members of the Producers Guild. And by the way, even with a single scene, do not be surprised if Streep gets his 22nd Oscar nomination for that.
The production was a bear. Marshall not only imagined a story almost entirely, but of course he worked with writers on new songs that would have their own shoes to fill. He also insisted that the film had to feature hand drawn animation, inspiring nostalgia for the original. Marshall and his team met with animators from Walt Disney Animation and Pixar Animation Studios to prepare these elements. Some even went out of retirement to have the opportunity to participate.
One particular sequence, which takes place on the surface of a cracked ceramic bowl, brings it all together wonderfully. He mixes hand drawn work with contemporary elements such as three-dimensional backgrounds and computer-generated images. All interact with real action actors and original compositions embellished with a choreography. It's a breathtaking sequence.
Indeed, the job as a whole is beautiful. Seamstress Sandy Powell may well win her fourth Oscar for this film rather than "The Favorite", another competitor she's on the hunt. The production design and photography, graciously offered by Marshall regulars John Myhre and Dion Beebe, really make the whole business grow on the screen and, of course, the editing of the film is crucial for a comedy. musical like this one. Wyatt Smith's work among the various figures and to advance the whole story is wonderful. The original score of Marc Shaiman will fly and Disney will submit two songs to the academy: the very lively "Trip to Little Light Fantastic" and the more serious "The Place Where Lost Things Go".
And on the market? Movie lovers obviously love movies like "La La Land" and "Une étoile est née". Musical narration is part of the fabric of modern cinema, which Marshall can rely on in part because of his Oscar-winning film "Chicago." 16 years ago, this helped open the door to Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge!" Expect that they are also going to this one. "Mary Poppins Returns" will be a resounding success, which will contribute all the more to make the public understand: the public wants such a film at the moment. Critics, even the most cynical (whether they admit it or not), want a movie like this for the moment. Voters on the Oscars want a movie like this now.
Well, they will get it.
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