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Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an operaA) based on the story of Joseph and his brothers from the book of Genesis. This article is mostly focused on the 1999 film, which Iām most familiar with.
Review
This film isā¦honestly, one of my favorites. I canāt help but have a big smile on my face every time I watch it. And thatās the whole way through.
The songs are really good and super catchy. They are also frequently quite funny. Josephās song in prison (Close Every Door) also hits you right in the feels.
The transitions between the songs are also very natural.B) They all go from one to another, making it feel like one long song at times. Though there are a few cases where this doesnāt happen. This also helps with the pacing of the story, which is fairly fast, but never feels rushed.
I donāt like all of them equally (obviously), but thatās down to personal preference.
Also: the Pharaoh as Elvis is a stroke of genius.
The film is presented as a play for school children. This really helps with selling the (frequently) absurd content of the songs, plus it helps āexcuseā the simple visuals.
There are a few issues. I think the song where Joseph interprets dreams in prison suffers from tonal whiplash. (Go, Go, Go Joseph)
What do I mean?
When we hear the baker is going to be executed, it immediately (and I do mean immediately) cuts to the the upbeat part of the song with all the colorful outfits and dancing.
That segment also (coincidentally) has the worst outfits in the film. Theyāre extremely 60s, which means itās extremely out-of-place.
Dare I call it a masterpiece? Yes. Everyone should watch it.
Also, I had a personal theory that the narrator isā¦god. Yes, that explains why she knows the story and whatās going to happen and what sheās doing in this story. Alternatively, sheās an angel. But that one isnāt as fun.
Speculah & Analysis
At some point Iāll have a comparison to the Biblical narrativeā¦once I bother to read it.
Trivilinks
- You can actually watch the film for free on YouTube! Here it is.
- The quality is unfortunately quite bad, so Iād recommend buying a DVD or Blu-Ray.
- I first saw clips of it in elementary school.
- I actually think that this, alongside the uhā¦Bible incidentā¦ may have shaped my aesthetic preferences. In other words: it was not the internet that corrupted me, but Bible studies.
- From what I can tell (with my fairly limited knowledge) the Egyptian outfits are surprisingly accurate. At leastā¦outside of the Potiphar segment. This is especially true of the female outfits.
- Another source of corruption in my youth.
- There is another adaptation of the story of Joseph, Joseph: King of Dreams, which Iāve also seen. It was made as a prequel to Prince of Egypt. Though from what I can rememberā¦itās a bit more accurate to the Biblical narrative, but itās just overall kinda bleh. I may write an article about it in the future.