evanston_dad
There's something gently magical about "Lili."If you can stomach the antiquated gender politics of the 1950s, you will find a lovely, melancholy little film about a naive young woman (Leslie Caron) who comes to realize that she loves a grumpy puppeteer (Mel Ferrer) rather than the more conventionally handsome and charismatic magician who first enraptures her. I've never been a big fan of Caron, but I liked her quite a lot in this film. The long scenes of her interacting with Ferrer's puppets might have been a disaster had she and director Charles Walters not struck just the perfect tone, but as it is they work beautifully and add the special something that makes this movie memorable. Ditto a dream sequence that serves as the film's finale, when the puppets are replaced by adult-sized counterparts who engage in a dance with Lili as she comes to the realization of where her heart lies. Walters, who specialized in musicals, uses his knowledge of the genre to enhance non-musical material.It's probably best not to think too hard about "Lili" if you want to relax into its charms, especially during the current climate of the MeToo movement. Lili is treated pretty badly by the men around her, even the one she falls for, and we're supposed to accept that he really has a heart of gold just because we're told so, not because we ever see him treat her well. Lili has to do all of the work to find the literal man of her dreams."Lili" did pretty well at the 1953 Oscars, landing nominations for Best Director (Walters), Best Actress (Caron), Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction (Color), and Best Cinematography (Color). But the only award it actually won was for Bronislau Kaper's score, which is indeed a major contributor to the film's success.Grade: A
aciolino
I see that several reviewers have used the word, "Haunting," in describing this film, as did I. If you allow yourself, "Lili" will speak to you on many, many levels, several you won't recognize right away, and this makes it haunting. There's always something "else" going on that's just beneath the surface. This makes for very rich and profound entertainment. A fairy tale? Perhaps, that too. Consider the topics touched on: alcoholism, rape, infidelity, suicide... this is serious entertainment, couched in sweetness and light. Visually, Lili is a fascinating film to watch. The color, although vivid, is not the overwhelming and oppressive color of an MGM 40's musical which only interferes with the talent. Here the viewer feels as if they are reading an old children's book filled with lovely illustrations.There is multi-layered meaning one would not expect in such a "light" story. But it is intelligent, has depth and is profound, not the least reason is the presence and use of puppets. SPOILERS ALERT! This is done beautifully, as they represent, not only the puppeteers' inner life but the mystical quality of the puppets themselves. The dance between Caron and the puppets "come to life" near the end is magical and moving for precisely these reasons. All the actors are perfectly cast. Do not hesitate to let yourself really enjoy this film fully, completely and deeply. Let your imagination fly. It will be worth it and you'll be surprised what you come up with and don't be surprised if you shed a tear when it's over. And that song! Bravo!
jacobs-greenwood
This delightful little musical romance drama was directed by Charles Waters and features a screenplay by Helen Deutsch from a story by Paul Gallico. It stars Leslie Caron in the title role; she sings the catchy song "Hi-Lilli. Hi-Lo" which was written by Deutsch and Bronislau Kaper, who won his only Academy Award for writing its Score. Caron earned the first of her two unrewarded Best Actress Oscar nominations. Waters and Deutsch received their only Academy recognition with Best Director and Screenplay Oscar nominations, respectively. Color Cinematographer Robert Planck earned the last of his four unrewarded nominations. The cast also includes Mel Ferrer, Jean Pierre Aumont, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Kurt Kasznar (among others), and four puppets (given life and voices ostensibly from Ferrer, and Kasznar).Lili Daurier (Caron) is a sweet, innocent recently orphaned (when her father died) French girl of sixteen who's traveled to a coastal town in hopes of finding work, and a home, with a baker friend of her deceased father. Unfortunately, he too had died recently; she learns from the proprietor of an adjacent store (Alex Gerry) who's about to take advantage of her until another man prevents it. That man turns out to be Marcus the Magnificent (Aumont), a magician with the circus troupe that's in town. Like a little duck, Lili follows Marc, meeting two of his fellow performers, puppeteers actually, Paul Berthalet (Ferrer) and Jacquot (Kasznar).Marc quickly learns how naive and ignorant in the ways of the world (and of being a woman) Lili is, but he doesn't take advantage of her. Instead, he convinces a cabaret manager (Ralph Dumke) to hire her. But Lili loses the job after one night because she can't handle being a waitress very well, especially when she watches, love- struck, as Marc performs his show with his assistant Rosalie (Gabor).Upon being fired, Lili goes to Marc hoping he'll help her again but, fed up with her cramping his style, he tells her to grow up and go back to the original store owner who'd tried to take advantage of her. Downtrodden with nowhere to go, she puts down her things and begins to climb a high-wire ladder to commit suicide when one of the puppets talks to her.Of course, the puppets are being controlled by Paul, who had seen what Lili was about to do and decided to save her. Paul had been a great, famous dancer but is now lame; he now finds that the most comfortable way for him to perform for an audience is by hiding behind a curtain. It has become virtually the only way in which he deals with others at all, at least pleasantly. Paul's puppets interact with Lili, singing the aforementioned song with her, and she laughs and forgets her troubles. The show is witnessed by other performers in the troupe who were entranced by it.Paul and his assistant Jacquot, who only moves some of the puppets while Paul provides all the voices, decide to ask Lili to join their act. Each evening, Lili dresses in her same simple dress and interacts with the puppets as if they were real people. It's her innocence which enables her to accept the four characters are being real, which comes across to the audience and causes the act to become such a success that it's recognized by some Paris agents (Wilton Graff and George Baxter).Paul, who's the improvisational genius of the nightly performances, has fallen in love with Lili. But, alas, Lili's heart still belongs to Marc. She even dreams of him (there is a dance sequence featuring Lili "stealing" Marc away from Rosalie). She buys a new dress, making herself look all grown up, and approaches the magician's trailer. Having just learned that his act is being hired by a Paris hotel, he's not as altruistic nor noble towards Lili.In fact, Marc goes with her to her trailer, which she shares with Paul and Jacquot, but before anything can happen, they're interrupted by Paul's return. Naturally, Paul is heartbroken once more; he even slaps Lili when she runs after Marc to return something he'd dropped. Later, Lili realizes that what Marc had left in the trailer was his wedding ring, and that he's really married to Rosalie - a fact the duo had purposely kept secret for business purposes (e.g. Marc attracts a large female, paying audience).Lili returns the ring to Marc and begins to leave altogether, but again the puppets bring her back (and not just because Paul needs her for the act before it too can go to Paris). Suddenly, she draws back the curtain to reveal Paul who, in the film's most powerful scene, tells her why the puppets' characterizations are so real and heartfelt - each is a reflection of a different part of his own personality, which he's too afraid to reveal on a person-to-person (human) level:I am Carrot Top: confident, clever, capable of running his life and yours, and everybody else's; and I'm Golo the Giant: cowardly, stupid, longing to be loved, clumsy and in need of comforting; and I'm Marguerite too: vain, jealous, obsessed with self, looking at my face in the mirror - are my teeth nice? Is my hair growing thin? And I'm Reynaldo: the thief, the opportunist, full of compromise and lies like any other man. I have in me all these things.But remembering his slap, Lili leaves anyway only to return (after another imagined sequence in which the puppets are people-size, each dancing with her before one-by-one they become Paul and walk back towards where she's been) to Paul in the end.
mike48128
I had never seen this film before. I just ran across it on TCM. It's a fairy tale of a little musical and only 81 minutes at that. Leslie Caron plays a 16-year-old orphan (she is 22 at the time) that finds herself abandoned and alone in a small French provincial town, so naturally she joins the carnival that just happens to be passing through it. I know this sounds corny, but told in the pretext of a fantasy, it works perfectly. Simple yet effective sets. She has a "crush" on the magician, never suspecting than he is secretly married to his gorgeous assistant, played very well by Zsa Zsa Gabor. She becomes entranced by the puppets and become part of their act, singing "Hi Lili", a wonderful song that won an Oscar. Two fantasy dance sequences including the finale where all the puppets come to life as she runs away. This sequence intentionally will remind you of "We're Off to See the Wizard". The slight amount of "sexual awakening" will be lost on any young girls who watch this as only a fairy tale. Wonderful in its simplicity and simply charming. I can't imagine anyone else playing the role of Lili except Caron. Only available as a basic WB "Archive" DVD-R, which will play on most current players.
