In this blog post, we’ll explore how musical films intertwine narrative and performance to reconfigure space, props, and the audience, thereby creating the diverse forms and styles seen in films such as ‘Moulin Rouge’, ‘Chicago’, and ’42nd Street’.

The Essence of the Musical Genre

From Narrative to Musical Numbers

Musicals create a distinct genre world, and the rules and sense of reality within it set them apart from other genres. In musical films, “music” goes beyond mere background music to primarily refer to song and dance; the combination of orchestration and choreography means that the performance itself defines the genre. Because of this performative nature, some critics view musicals as a means of expression that disregards narrative; however, musicals actually function in a unique way where narrative and performance influence each other.

The Stage and Reality in Film

Musicals transform a relatively realistic narrative world into a stage or space of a different dimension. The characters briefly step out of the fictional reality of the narrative and surrender themselves to the fantasy of song and dance; in that moment, music and performance dominate the scene. Musicals break the continuity of traditional narrative and shift to a different dimension of reality through abrupt transitions to non-narrative scenes of song and dance. In contrast, in typical musical films, music remains part of the narrative, serving as a window into the characters’ emotions and psychology.

The Degree of Transition and Integration Between Domains

Musicals function by moving back and forth between two dramatic domains: narrative and spectacle (performance). These transitions occur sometimes clearly and other times very seamlessly. For example, in early Hollywood musicals, the transition from narrative to musical number was explicitly marked by scenes depicting the shift from silent to sound film. In contemporary works, a single shot can bridge reality and a musical number, and editing and matching techniques are used to either emphasize or blur the distinction between the two realms. Furthermore, throughout the history of musicals, various formats have coexisted—ranging from forms with almost no narrative, such as revues, to attempts to integrate narrative and musical numbers, such as operettas and book musicals. However, it has also been pointed out that completely integrating narrative and musical numbers can weaken the emotional immediacy inherent in the numbers.

Musical Form and Style

Backstage Musicals and Representative Examples

Backstage musicals naturally weave the motivation behind musical numbers into the realism of the narrative, integrating the theater or show into the plot so that rehearsals and performances themselves become part of the story. Films that depict the very process of creating a show and performing it on stage—such as the early Warner Bros. productions of the 1930s—are prime examples. In these works, stage scenes are transformed directly into cinematic fantasy spaces, and rehearsal rooms, the stage, and backstage areas are continuously reconfigured. The backstage structure serves as a launching pad, providing a realistic foundation from which to leap into a non-realistic fantasy.
Notable examples include 1930s classics (such as ’42nd Street’), later films like ‘Cabaret’ and ‘For the Boys’, rock musicals, and more recent films such as ‘Moulin Rouge!’. While ‘Moulin Rouge!’ follows the process of creating a show as its central narrative, many of its musical numbers—devoid of realistic motivation—serve as emotional outbursts that liberate the actors from narrative constraints. In this way, musical numbers often function as a celebration of emotional intensity and liberation.

Entertainer-Centric Musicals

Even when the performance itself is not the central focus of the plot, the motivation for musical numbers arises naturally if the protagonist is a performer or has a profession associated with the stage. For example, in films like those featuring Astaire, where the protagonist is a performer, song and dance derive their justification from the character’s professional context. Such films create convincing musical moments through the performers’ technical skill and stage experience.

Transformation of Space: Performers, Props, and Audience

The transition into a musical sequence relies heavily on the rearrangement of space. As everyday settings are reconfigured into performance spaces, actors shift between the roles of “actors as actors” and “actors as audience members,” and are sometimes placed in positions where they perform within a performance. Props also play a crucial role. Objects that seem trivial in everyday life become part of the dance or are used as musical instruments, creating an effect that transforms their original identity or context. The audience, too, is a necessary condition for the performance; by exposing the presence or absence of the audience and their reactions within the film, the meaning of the musical scenes is expanded.

Stylistic Devices: From Black-and-White to Color

Films also signal shifts in context through stylistic changes. The transition from black-and-white to color, or changes in saturation, visually indicate that the relationship between reality and the stage, or between the narrative and the soundscape, has shifted. For example, in early works, the shift from black-and-white to color during specific numbers was used as a device to shift the audience’s perception, while later works reveal the boundary between reality and fantasy through subtle changes in saturation. Conversely, some numbers remain deeply rooted in the narrative without any change in color, thereby failing to evoke a sense of escapist ecstasy.
In summary, musical films have developed their own unique formal devices by oscillating between narrative reality and musical fantasy, and each work offers the audience different kinds of enjoyment and interpretations through these transitions.

From Noise to Music

In film musicals, a technique is often used in which everyday noises are edited or combined to transform them into a musical order. For example, the opening of ‘Love Me Tonight’ edits together urban noises to transform them into music, while “Kvalda” from ‘Dancer in the Dark’ orchestrates the sounds of factory machinery to create a rhythm that serves as the song’s overture. This approach traverses the boundaries between different realms—everyday noise and musical order—thereby reshaping the audience’s perception.

Characteristics and Functions of Operetta

Unlike backstage musicals, operetta does not attempt to provide realistic motivations for the singing and dancing. Instead, it sets the scene in an exotic, fairy-tale-like 19th-century European setting and features a cast of characters borrowed from fairy tales or romantic melodramas—such as princes, princesses, kings, and queens from distant kingdoms—to unfold a story in which love overcomes all obstacles. For example, ‘Love Me Tonight’ reimagines the story of ‘Sleeping Beauty’, and works such as ‘Love Parade’ (1929), ‘The Merry Widow’ (1934), and, in more recent times, ‘Moulin Rouge’ can all be viewed as having operetta-like characteristics.
Since operettas’ fairy-tale settings are far removed from the realities of everyday life, song and dance become essential elements in constructing the reality of this musical fantasy. Furthermore, in operettas, dialogue suddenly transforms into a specific rhythm or style, transitioning naturally into musical numbers. The operetta format, which enjoyed popularity in the 1930s at studios such as MGM, was sometimes met with cynicism for being “theatrical” due to its connection to the cultural context of the time, but its genre characteristics were all the more distinct for it.

The Astaire-Rogers Musicals: A Shift Toward Personal Expression

The Astaire-Rogers film series transformed the musical from a collective spectacle into a genre that explores individual expression and the conditions and constraints surrounding that expression. Produced by RKO, these films featured charming, romantic leads reminiscent of screwball comedies, with the sexual tension between the two protagonists channeled into song and dance rather than slapstick.
The screenplays of these films are characterized by verbal wit and elegance, and most of the songs and dances serve to express the characters and illustrate the progression of their relationship. While narrative conflicts and obstacles are present, the relationship unfolds in a way that dance numbers help overcome them. Notable examples include ‘Top Hat’ (1935) and ‘Swing Time’.

The Integrated Musical and the Role of the Producer

The development of the integrated musical is generally credited to Arthur Freed. Working for many years at MGM alongside various collaborators, Freed produced a series of classic musicals ranging from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939) to ‘The Bells Ring Out’ (1960). His works include ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’ (1944), ‘The Pirate’ (1948), ‘On the Town’ (1949), ‘An American in Paris’ (1951), ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ (1952), ‘Band Wagon’ (1953), and ‘Always Sunny’ (1955).
Freed’s goal was to achieve a more complete integration and interaction between musical numbers and the narrative. The title number from ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ is a prime example of this integration. In the same scene, while the supporting characters react differently to the rain, the protagonist, Lockwood, finds joy despite the gloomy weather, allowing song and dance to unfold naturally. In this way, the specific situation itself provides the motivation for song and dance, while scene transitions flow seamlessly.

The Ideological Aspect of Musicals

The most distinctive formal characteristic of the musical genre is that it fundamentally differs from the quasi-realism of classic Hollywood. The integrated musical partially abandons realist conventions and focuses on expressively transforming the objective world. As a result, the on-stage performance appears, on the surface, spontaneous and complete, yet it simultaneously presupposes the audience’s malleability—their willingness to accept or participate in that transformation.
Musicals create utopian spaces where everyday problems do not exist, and these utopias are situated within the genre’s own socio-historical coordinates. Critics have pointed out that there are clear limits to the musical’s desire for transformation. Musicals tend to present utopian versions to manage the flaws of capitalist society. At the same time, the formal distinctiveness of the musical also provides greater freedom to explore aspects of human experience that are excluded from quasi-realistic forms.
There are also arguments that, genre-wise, musicals should not be viewed merely as a source of revenue for studios. Musicals are a genre with diverse forms and applications that cannot be reduced to the image of the MGM era alone.
For example, ‘Grease’ (1978) addresses capitalist contradictions by creating an escape from an imperfect society in a conservative manner, whereas progressive musicals often expose or critique the utopian nature of musical numbers. ‘Money from Heaven’ (1981) challenges the escapism inherent in musical numbers through its lip-syncing protagonist.

The End of an Era: Musicals in Post-Classical Hollywood

Classical musicals were significantly weakened by the decline of the Hollywood style and structural changes in the film industry beginning in the 1950s. By the late 1960s, the golden age of American musical films had begun to come to an end. While many stage-based films from the 1950s continued to enjoy success, original musicals had all but disappeared. Despite the existence of blockbusters such as ‘South Pacific’ (1958), ‘The Music Man’ (1962), ‘My Fair Lady’ (1964), and ‘West Side Story’, Hollywood increasingly relied on stage hits with “guaranteed demand” for their screenplays.
In addition to commercial and production-related changes, formal and thematic conflicts contributed to the genre’s decline. The musical’s typical escapism—exotic and remote settings, picturesque scenery—clashed with the radical social issues of the 1960s. As urgent, realistic themes such as racial discrimination, poverty, Cold War tensions, and youth discontent came to the fore, the musical’s fantastical escapism lost its appeal. Although some directors attempted to revive the genre, these efforts often failed both commercially and critically (e.g., Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Finian’s Rainbow’ (1967), Peter Bogdanovich’s ‘The Long, Long Love’ (1975), and Martin Scorsese’s ‘New York, New York’ (1977)).
Nevertheless, by the late 1970s, there were several attempts to revive the live-action musical format, and the genre did not disappear entirely. It is important to remember that since then, the musical has undergone constant reinterpretation in both form and content, repeatedly experiencing revivals and transformations.

The Decline of the Traditional Integrated Musical and Notable Exceptions

While some works, such as ‘Grease’, ‘The Wizard’ (1978), and ‘Hair’ (1979), were box-office successes, the traditional integrated musical format generally failed to attract audiences after the 1980s. For example, ‘Newsies’ (1992), ‘For You’ (1994), and ‘Evita’ did not live up to expectations.
Nevertheless, exceptional works emerged that made innovative use of the genre’s characteristics. These included ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ (1975), which garnered attention for its homosexual themes and bold irony, the humorous horror musical ‘The Carnivorous Plants’ (1986), and works like ‘Moulin Rouge!’ (2001) and ‘Everybody Says I Love You’ (1996)—which succeeded by drawing on retro aesthetics and exaggerated styles—are examples of this.
The success of ‘Chicago’ (2002) demonstrated how a genre could be reconfigured. The film chose to juxtapose disparate spaces to serve the narrative and musical numbers; rather than faithfully recreating traditional realism, it combined fast-paced, MTV-style editing with strictly choreographed group dancing to present a new, performance-centered visual language.

The Dawn of a New Era

The Enduring Popularity of Rock ’n’ Roll

Rock ’n’ roll has maintained its popularity in both film and musical theater. Films starring Elvis Presley (e.g., ‘Love Me Tender’), ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ (1964) and ‘Help!’ (1965) featuring The Beatles, ‘Saturday Night Fever’ (1977) and ‘Grease’ (1978)—both adapted from Broadway musicals and starring John Travolta—demonstrate that rock-based music continued to enjoy widespread commercial success.

The Revival of Animation and Musicals

The success of Disney animations spurred a revival of musical films. ‘The Little Mermaid’ (1989), ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (1991), ‘Aladdin’ (1992), ‘The Lion King’ (1994), ‘Pocahontas’ (1995), and ‘Toy Story’ (1995) combined music and narrative, paving the way for the genre’s return in a form familiar to audiences.
Meanwhile, films like ‘Moulin Rouge’ and ‘Chicago’ heralded a return to the genre by spectacularly reviving the musical format. These films sought to offer a kind of utopian solution to the real-world problems posed by modern society, serving to both control and entertain the audience’s desires.

Beyond Hollywood

Creating music and song is a universal human impulse, and the film industries of nearly every country have developed their own musical film formats. However, as Hollywood musicals came to be perceived as the international standard, they often served as the benchmark for evaluating musicals from other countries.
Among these, Indian cinema—or “Bollywood”—offers a unique point of comparison due to its high output, diverse production scales ranging from low-budget to blockbuster levels, genre authenticity, and industrialized production system. Musical performances in Indian cinema are often integrated in a way that transcends genre boundaries rather than operating within a subgenre, and norms of realism and emotional expression are accepted on a discursive foundation that differs from the Hollywood model.
Furthermore, the prominent incorporation of folk traditions in Indian cinema is a feature also found in other national musical films; by bringing regionally distinct musical traditions into film, it reflects an ideological motivation to reconstruct a cohesive national identity in societies that have experienced historical crises or divisions.

The Potential of Korean Musical Films

While “Samgeori Theater” (2006) is often cited as Korea’s first musical film, “Blue Hill” (1948) can actually be considered the first Korean film to introduce the musical format. This film was an attempt at a musical drama centered on singer Hyun In’s victory in a singing competition and was completed using playback and synchronized sound recording. With the lead actor’s stage scenes and the use of songs within the film, it clearly possessed musical elements by the standards of the time.
In 2006, Korea saw the release of musical films such as ‘Samgeori Theater’, ‘The Multicellular Girl’, and ‘The Gumiho Family’, but all of them failed at the box office. However, a significant turning point came in 2008 when the foreign musical film ‘Mamma Mia!’ drew approximately 4.5 million viewers, demonstrating that musical films could resonate with Korean audiences.
The lesson to be learned is that for musical films to achieve greater success in Korea, familiar music, a well-crafted narrative, and a harmonious blend of stage performance and film must come together. Given the recent surge in adaptations of existing films into stage musicals, it is highly likely that synergy will only be achieved when the entertainment value and quality of the drama are combined with the musical format, rather than relying solely on the musical format itself.