There are moments that the words don’t reach
There is suffering too terrible to name
“It’s Quiet Uptown” from Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Today I’ll start a run of posts on Hamilton that began running on Disney+ last month. I was not fortunate enough to see the Broadway or touring versions of the musical, so glad to finally see the 2016 filmed Broadway version. Since I avoided reading much about the Pulitzer Prize and Tony winning (Best Musical) creation by Lin-Manuel Miranda I came at it fresh last week and it blew me away.
Ii also brought tears to my eyes in a couple of places. Repeated viewings, and listening to the CD on continue loop while driving, have enriched my understanding of history and deepened my appreciation for the dramatic experience.
The craft of storytelling is on full display. I’m not sure how many posts I’ll write, but starting Monday I’ll unpack why I think Hamilton is an instant classic.
Eventually, I’ll get around to seeing what Miranda, fans, critics, and podcaster have to say about the musical. But today I just want to mention that Hamilton is that rare emotional journey that audiences crave.
“‘What is the single emotional journey?’—That’s always the mantra for me. That’s the true north. Screenwriting is an intellectual exercise that’s designed to illicit an emotional response. If I write a script and somebody calls me and says ‘this is the smartest script I’ve ever read’ that means I have failed 100%. Because I’m not reaching that reader on an emotional level. When you write a script that works, you do the thinking so your reader can do the feeling.”
—Billy Ray (Captain Phillips, Shattered Glass, Richard Jewel)
UCLA Story Break podcast
Last night on the Facebook group for The Rewatchables (based on the Bill Simmons podcast dedicated to movies that people find rewatchable) Jimmy Mak asked the question “What movie made you cry the hardest?” In less than 24 hours there were 300 responses. Many of the movies were repeated, but here is a partial list of movies that made people cry. (And, yes, Hamilton made the list.)
12 Years a Slave
Adrift
American Sniper
Apollo 13
Arrival
Babe
Beaches
Big Fish
Boyz N the Hood
Brian’s Song
The Champ
Cinema Paradiso
Coco
Courageous
Dancer in the Dark
The Elephant Man
E.T.
Field of Dreams
For the Love of the Game
Forrest Gump
Friday Night Lights
Fruitvale Station
Green Mile
Hachiko
Hamilton
Home Alone
Hoosiers
Inside Out
It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
It’s a Wonderful Life
Joy Luck Club
Just Mercy
Kissed By God
Kramer vs. Kramer
La Bamba
Lion
Logan
Marley and Me
Marriage Story
Me & Earl and the Dying Girl
Million Dollar Baby
Moonlight
Mr.Holland’s Opus
My Dog Skip
My Girl
Old Yeller
On Golden Pond
Ordinary People
The Patriot
A River Runs Through It
Radio
Room
Rocky 2
Roma
Saving Private Ryan
Shadowlands
Short Circuit
Sling Blade
Stand By Me
A Star is Born
Terms of Endearment
Titanic
Toy Story 3
Up
Where the Red Fern Grows
P.S. Personally, Hamilton has proven to be an instant rewatch. But what’s interesting about listening to Bill Simmons and his team talk about movies they’ve see 10, 20, 50, 100 times is you get an audiences understanding (verses an academic one) of the visceral level at which movies can hit people. Often times the filmmakers and actors/actresses are mystified by the depths that some of the movies they worked on impact others. (More than one actor has said they can’t watch movies they’re in because they only see room for improving their performances. Audiences come at movies from a different perspective. They’re not looking for perfection, but to have an emotional journey. But Hamilton is that rare production that achieved both.
Related posts:
Emotion—Emotion—Emotion
40 Days of Emotions
Aim for the Heart
Movies as an Emotional Journey
Frances Marion on Emotion
[…] Related post: Screenwriting Battlefield (How Billy Ray beat out more experienced writers when starting out. And what he learned from Robert McKee’s seminar.) ‘Hamilton’ as an Emotional Journey […]
[…] Related posts: Before Hamilton (The Successes and Failures That Paved the Way) Hamilton as an Emotional Journey […]