What if there was a gangster movie starred by children? What if this movie were a musical? Alan Parker took this idea and transformed into a movie in 1976. And it worked really well.
As i said, 'Bugsy Malone' is a gangster movie starred by children, and there isn't much more to say about the story. The script has that feeling of 'I have seen this before', telling the story of Bugsy Malone (Scott Baio), a gangster in the late 1920's New York, in the middle of the Depression. The predictable script is really no problem, because it's told in a different way than any gangster movie you've ever seen - through songs. The musical feeling really works, and original songs are absolutely great. Two days after I've watched the movie, 'Tomorrow', 'My Name is Tallulah' and 'Bugsy Malone' kept playing on my head. Definitely gonna buy the Soundtrack.
The acting in this movie is not marvelous, but with every member of the cast been under 16 you can't expect much. For kids, they did a nice job. I was amazed to see that most of the cast didn't do anything after this, which is a shame, 'cause they sure had talent. Scott Baio is nice as the lead, but when you watch the movie, your eyes can't help it and are going to focus on Jodie Foster. She was fine as Tallulah, and 1976 was a great year for her, also appearing on Scorsese's 'Taxy Driver. She is the only member of the cast that turned into a star.
The British-born Alan Parker writes and directs here and does a good job in both functions. It's amazing to think he did this in 1976. With almost the whole movie been shot in the set, he putted the camera at so- interesting that you don't realize it's not location. There is one scene at the end of the movie that really resembles the also Alan Parker's later 'Pink Floyd - The Wall'. Maybe he did it on purpose, who knows... The cinematography is quite weird, having that old-European movie feel to it. One thing that I particularly liked was the art-direction. The cars and guns were a nice catch.
Overral, Alan Parker written and directed this excellent idea, and he executed it very well. Of course 'Bugsy Malone' is no masterpiece, but it's really fun to watch. Hope they don't remake this - it would that take away all the magic.
7/10
As i said, 'Bugsy Malone' is a gangster movie starred by children, and there isn't much more to say about the story. The script has that feeling of 'I have seen this before', telling the story of Bugsy Malone (Scott Baio), a gangster in the late 1920's New York, in the middle of the Depression. The predictable script is really no problem, because it's told in a different way than any gangster movie you've ever seen - through songs. The musical feeling really works, and original songs are absolutely great. Two days after I've watched the movie, 'Tomorrow', 'My Name is Tallulah' and 'Bugsy Malone' kept playing on my head. Definitely gonna buy the Soundtrack.
The acting in this movie is not marvelous, but with every member of the cast been under 16 you can't expect much. For kids, they did a nice job. I was amazed to see that most of the cast didn't do anything after this, which is a shame, 'cause they sure had talent. Scott Baio is nice as the lead, but when you watch the movie, your eyes can't help it and are going to focus on Jodie Foster. She was fine as Tallulah, and 1976 was a great year for her, also appearing on Scorsese's 'Taxy Driver. She is the only member of the cast that turned into a star.
The British-born Alan Parker writes and directs here and does a good job in both functions. It's amazing to think he did this in 1976. With almost the whole movie been shot in the set, he putted the camera at so- interesting that you don't realize it's not location. There is one scene at the end of the movie that really resembles the also Alan Parker's later 'Pink Floyd - The Wall'. Maybe he did it on purpose, who knows... The cinematography is quite weird, having that old-European movie feel to it. One thing that I particularly liked was the art-direction. The cars and guns were a nice catch.
Overral, Alan Parker written and directed this excellent idea, and he executed it very well. Of course 'Bugsy Malone' is no masterpiece, but it's really fun to watch. Hope they don't remake this - it would that take away all the magic.
7/10