Chicago

“Razzle Dazzle em’ and they’ll never catch wise!” sings Billy Flynn to Roxie Heart in the movie based on the Broadway musical, Chicago. Chicago (2002) has been the most successful movie musical in decades. Film critics have attributed the success of the film to its excellent editing and composition. The editing shapes the film and keeps it moving forward. While the edits may be imperceptible, the movement of the story, the movement of emotion, and the movement of the images and sounds are not .The editor organizes the flow of these three kinds of movement (Pearlman 30).
One of the greatest accomplishments of Chicago is the clarity in which the story unfolds in a compelling rhythmic structure. According to Pearlman, “Chicago takes fantasy sequences to a new level of substance and significance, revealing all but one or two of the major plot events, characters, and ideas through Roxie Hart’s emotionally charged song and dance fantasies of them” (30).
Transitions between shots contain images of choreography. The choreography represents the divide between the real and the musical, which makes both equally plausible. Approximately, every 8 to 12 minutes throughout the film there is a musical number. The musical numbers follow a dramatic question posed by a main character. Each number then raises new dramatic questions to maintain the progression of the story.
By working with the cadence of the songs, the editor, Martin Walsh, was able to make an acted performance coincide with a sung one. For example, when Amos pulls his hat off in “Mr. Cellophane,” the scene cuts to him standing with his hat in his hand in the lawyer’s office. It is this excellent editing that allows the transitions to be realized as a flow of emotion and action on screen (33).