Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench
United States
2009
82 Min
Black and White
1.85:1
English
Synopsis
Writer/director Damien Chazelle combines the cinematic sensibilities of Cassavetes and Godard in a gritty, 16mm, MGM-style musical. Backed by an alternately rollicking and melancholy score by Justin Hurwitz, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench tracks a pair of young lovers after they meet by chance in a Boston park and bond over a passion for old-timey music. But like his constantly searching camera, Chazelle doesn’t linger too long in any one place in the story. Soon Guy (Jason Palmer) and Madeline (Desiree Garcia) are separated and searching for new romance on city streets and in smoke-filled jazz clubs. Guy has an electrifying chance encounter with the lovely Elena (Sandha Khin), and Madeline entertains new suitors along with her own dreams of escaping to New York, but love may ultimately lead them back to one another.
The song-and-dance numbers in this youthful and original take on the musical come as a natural overflow of the lovelorn characters’ emotions, allowing shy, doe-eyed Madeline to express what she can’t always say in plain talk. Guy, meanwhile, lets his trumpet (yes, that’s really pro trumpeter Palmer playing) speak for his heart, proving once again that artistic talent is exponentially related to sex appeal. —Tribeca Film Festivall
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curmudgeon pudding
17Jan13
I'm probably of a minority who would've enjoyed this played as straight realism. The sensibilities brought to the fore are very oil and water, and the film's non-realism influences are sloppily executed and phony.
Matt Richards
12Jan12
About as independent as it gets. Black & white, musical, arty, mummblecore meets Goddard. Tap dancing and sublime, subtle performances. The camera work is perfectly matched to the action. Fresh. 4 stars
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Articles
Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
What is the 21st Century?: Hear This, It's Real
By Ignatiy Vishnevetsky on December 29, 2012
A look at live-sung musical numbers, past and present.
"Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench," Events, More
By David Hudson on November 5, 2010
"No sort of motion picture is more stylized, utopian, or fun to theorize than the musical," writes the Voice's J Hoberman. "As an exercise
US Indies Abroad, Kelly Reichardt, Elvis
By David Hudson on January 5, 2010
For the second year in a row, the Babylon theater in Berlin is presenting a series of American independent films, 22 this time around, ranging
"Red Cliff," Tim Burton and More NYC Goings On
By David Hudson on November 18, 2009
Like Aleksandr Sokurov's The Sun (see yesterday's entry), John Woo's Red Cliff opens in New York today before traveling on to other US cities
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Slow Paced Dialogue
By Maxamed Ibrahim on March 22, 2013
This is a black and white art film. Its excoriating slow and at times hard to follow. Some characters look similar, you can’t tell where they come from or where they fit into the story chronologically… read review
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Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009): a "Mumblecore" Musical
20 posts by 7 people
almost 2 years ago