SYNOPSICS
De-Lovely (2004) is a English,French,Italian movie. Irwin Winkler has directed this movie. Kevin Kline,Ashley Judd,Jonathan Pryce,Kevin McNally are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2004. De-Lovely (2004) is considered one of the best Biography,Drama,Music,Musical movie in India and around the world.
De-Lovely is an original musical portrait of American composer Cole Porter, filled with his unforgettable songs. In the film, Porter is looking back on his life as if it was one of his spectacular stage shows, with the people and events of his life becoming the actors and action onstage. Through elaborate production numbers and popular hits like "Anything Goes," "It's De-Lovely," and "Night and Day," Porter's elegant, excessive past comes to light - including his deeply complicated relationship with his wife and muse, Linda Lee Porter.
De-Lovely (2004) Trailers
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De-Lovely (2004) Reviews
I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO SEE A MUSICAL
This biography soars toward the Academy Awards on the backs of its producer, director and actors. Kevin Kline proves you don't have to look like the "Real Person" to bring his spirit to life and Ashley Judd (contrary to some unfair and plain wrong reviews) gives us a strong Linda Porter, a complex and vulnerable Linda Porter who, as is usually the case, finally succumbs to her life choices with an uncommon grace and courage. Those people in the audience who had no idea about Mr. Porter's sexual preference, oh'd and ah'd in the beginning. Then they learned that all the talent in the world, all the money in the world, all the joyous hedonism of youth in the world - all of it falls in upon itself as age overcomes and destroys the arrogance of youth. Irwin Winkler has given us an unflinching portrait of an unusually talented man, an unusual life, and a painful end to that life. My palms were ice cold and I felt drained as this film concluded - not because it failed as a project, but because it succeeded so well. DE-LOVELY is not an easy movie but it is a brilliant one.
Cole Porter would approve of this movie!
I am 50 years old, and have been a professional musician most of my life. Cole porter's heyday was long before I was around, but I was instantly attracted to his music in my youth, and that love for his compositions has never ceased. I know many here are bad mouthing the movie "De-Lovely", and they shouldn't be. There are so many unwatchable, ridiculously bad movies being released nowadays, that De-lovely looks like Gone with the Wind compared to many of them. We have several generations of young people that do not have the benefit of the diverse media many of us older people had when we were young. Back when radio and television use to thrived on diversity. They are now totally market driven toward youth, and offer little diversity. The re-birth of the musical these past few years, is introducing youth to a quality of art that most were not even aware existed. The influence movies like De-Lovely could have on young artist should not be under-estimated. I remember many musicals in my youth that greatly influenced my future career as a musician. I found De-Lovely to be a delightful movie. I found both Kline and Judd to be excellent in their roles. While the story has taken some lead way with the facts, they got the majority of important points across, and with a lot of style in my opinion. The makers of this movie had to do a balancing act between biography and entertainment. Between telling the story of Porter's life, and paying tribute to his incredible talent as a song writer. I left the movie theater feeling upbeat and inspired. That told me they balanced the two very well. While I might of chosen a few different singers to sing Porter's songs in the movie, I realize that using known, modern singers helps get youth into the theater, and that's important. The artist they choose to sing Porter's music in the movie, did a wonderful job. While some renditions are a little too modernized, any influence his music has on today's youth is a good thing. Our young people need to know that real works of art take skill, training, talent, and time. Much of todays music is aimed toward an audience with a very short attention span, wanting instant gratification, and to counter that with the music of Cole Porter is a wonderful gift to an entire generation. This movie works on so many levels. The music, the period, the love affair, and the pain. The story is about Porter looking back at his life during his last moments on earth, he sees it as a theatrical production. Because of this, the songs are not all in chronological order. A few of the songs were placed out of sequence to fit the story line. This idea works splendidly, and it is beyond me why some reviewers seemed to miss this concept completely, and thought the writers messed up. The truth is we really don't know that much about Cole porter. He was not fond of the press, and the relationship between his wife Linda and him was very private. We do know Cole was gay, but loved Linda deeply his entire life. The movie raises more questions than it answers, as it should. Cole was a complicated person, and lived a complicated life. This is movie making at it's best, folks. I recommend this movie highly. I hope Hollywood keeps the musicals coming. It's about time.
A musical that even I can love
I generally hate biographical films and musicals, but this biographical musical is one I really liked. From the beginning with Gabriel (I always love Johnathan Pryce - I never got over "Brazil") and the old Cole Porter together in the empty theatre, I was sold on the film. Sometimes flashbacks annoy me. In this case, the interaction (one-sided, but still there) between the old Cole Porter and his past made the transition to his life magical and fun. It didn't feel like a biographical view of his life. From the opening scene in the theatre, it just got better as it went along. Kevin Kline's portrayal of Cole Porter was rich and nuanced. He seemed to be truly in love with Linda, yet he still had his other side. Ashley Judd as Linda seemed perfect. When the old Cole Porter sees her again, he says, "My god, she was lovely!" and she was. I identified enough with her and with Kevin Kline that I was saddened by her death in the movie. They sold me on their characters. I ended up feeling empathy for Linda; the lovely, lovable and steadfast; and respect and admiration for the Cole Porter figure. But, what made the movie fly for me was the music (go figure!). It was Cole Porter, release 1.1. A bunch of his great songs were re-arranged and presented by modern singers - all the way from jazz (Diane Krall) to varieties of pop (Elvis Costello). Each of the singers brought a new feel to the Cole Porter songs and really made the movie a pleasure. When my wife and I finished the movie on the DVD we spent another hour watching all the special features. We both hated to see the movie end. We just wanted it to go on and on. Like the beat, beat, beat of the tom-tom.........
De-Lovely is indeed lovely
As a biography, De-Lovely is not historically accurate, but as drama and a tribute to Cole Porter, a prodigious talent in musical theater, it is sublime. Kevin Kline is perfectly cast in spirit as the songwriter extraordinaire who stormed Broadway as Hollywood beckoned. His marriage to Linda Porter (a terrific Ashley Judd) is a relationship of lasting love fraught with infidelity and heartbreak in which Porter is portrayed as an insatiable artist whose homoerotic dalliances were legend. The timeline spans the 1920's through the 1950's. This is not so much a simple biopic but, rather, an interesting depiction of Porter's constant struggle to find happiness in love and life and it proves to be an addictive intoxication. As his accepting and understanding wife grows increasingly frustrated with his lies and deception amid his growing list of male suitors, Porter's life and health begin to unravel. Serving as a framework for the life events is a curious narration of sorts by an aged Porter and a mysterious host/angel (a nice theatrical turn by Jonathan Pryce). This bracketing narration is reminiscent of A Christmas Carol, and there are striking similarities to the classic All That Jazz in narrative and tone. The main story is told in a series of mini-vignettes; some scenes are almost too brief. Then there are the songs. It is truly phenomenal just how many wonderful Porter songs became standards. The recreations of many of his top hits are interspersed throughout the film and are performed often by top vocalists including some amusing cameos by Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Alanis Morissette, and Natalie Cole. The songs serve to parallel and punctuate the life events throughout the story in much the same way paintings served as a co-narrative in Frieda. Although production values are good for a period and location piece, it feels a little less grand in scope than it ought to be. Perhaps that works in the films favor as a more intimate story. Standout credit goes to the makeup effects especially showing the aging of Kevin Kline's character. The camera work and editing are imaginative especially in a series of circular tracking shots which seamlessly meld one timeframe with another. The music is timeless and enjoyable even when sung in pedestrian fashion by Kline. And regarding Kline, he deserves an Oscar nomination for a richly etched portrait of a tortured soul whose search for true love spanned his entire life. Perhaps in the hands of Bob Fosse or Baz Luhrmann, this could have really launched into a wildly imaginative send-off of a musical genius, but director Irwin Winkler (a respected producer turned director like Alan Pakula) has done Cole Porter proud.
Delightfully, Deliciously, Delectably De-lovely
Director Irwin Winkler's "De-lovely" isn't any more a determined attempt at accuracy - a biopic with integrity - than was its 1946 romantic predecessor, "Night and Day," a star vehicle for Cary Grant. "De-lovely" is a truly lovely retelling with much liberty taken of the life of the great song writer, Cole Porter, and the woman he loved - and who loved him intensely, Linda, his only wife. In real life Porter was probably exclusively gay and Linda, a wealthy divorcee bearing sharp-edged, hurting psychical scars from the brutalization she experienced in her first marriage, was happy to settle into deeply rewarding platonic matrimony with the brilliant, witty Cole. Porter here is marginally bisexual and the two are shown chastely but lovingly entwined in bed. Cole and Linda, from reasonably informed accounts, probably never had sex. What makes this film work are the imagined, powerful performances of Ashley Judd as Linda and Kevin Kline as Porter. The rest of the cast is fine and many songs are bellowed by famous singers but this is Judd and Kline's inspired genius from beginning to end. Winkler drew ecstatically engaging portrayals from these gifted actors. I can't imagine who could have played these roles as Judd and Kline do. The film begins with an aged Porter watching and commenting on rehearsals of a new production that will showcase his wonderful songs. Is Porter actually alive? The director tells him that his shouted comments can't be heard by the actors. The film goes back and forth to this rehearsal which affects Porter increasingly as the main story follows the couple's life together. Linda, rich, independent and very smart (as well as glamorous) knew she wanted Porter from their first encounter. When he delicately indicates his attraction to men she responds that she doesn't care-he simply likes men more than she does. Kline's Porter is a genius but also he's somewhat immature and, as his fame spreads and his wealth grows, innocently insensitive to how his activities create a wall of estrangement between himself and the woman he totally adores. Petty lies replace the earlier openness as Porter is attracted to a homosexual sub-culture. Judd - certainly one of the most intelligent women acting today - is grippingly compelling as she progresses from divorcee to globe-trotting wife to indispensable muse to a premature death when she's racked by a progressively fatal malady. Folks were crying in the theater today. Perhaps in wry acknowledgment that he's messed about with the facts, Winkler has the befuddled Cole and Linda watch a private studio preview of "Night and Day" which leaves Porter commenting that it can't be so bad to be played by Cary Grant. But both quietly recognize that their lives have been captured and transformed by Hollywood, reality playing second place to the whims of powerful vulgarians like Louis B. Mayer (who is parodied nicely). But seminally and for all time Cole Porter was and is about his songs and shows and "De-lovely" offers an almost unending performance of tunes both familiar and not (today's audience, by the way, largely remembered Porter). Both Kline and Judd sing-Kline sounds remarkably like Porter and Judd gives it the good old Phi Beta Kappa try (she's a member). In any event what a "De-lovely" treat to see this extraordinary actress unleashed from her recent past of portraying women victimized by homicidal misogynists. At the least this film will probably garner the Oscar for costumes. Armani designed the wardrobe and Kline and Judd seem to change for every scene. The whole cast is attired in perfect garb, suggesting the magic of Porter's circle. Rarely do I leave a theater determined to immediately get a film soundtrack but today I rushed from the Loew's Lincoln Square Theater across to Tower where I scoffed up the disc-I've played it twice already. Don't miss this drama/musical which shows that Hollywood can still bring beautiful and timeless songs to the movie houses. And do it wonderfully. The DVD release will have (I hope) many extra and terrific features but even if it doesn't, "De-lovely" deserves repeated viewings. 10/10