Artifice and Escapism in Singin' in the Rain
From the first scene in Singin' in the Rain, directors Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly establish it as a meta text. There are movie stars walking the red carpet and cartoonish, screaming fans; we are immediately placed in Hollywood, in a "movie about the movies". Within this setting, Kelly's character begins the narration, an origin story about how his fame was built (in the tradition of folk art) on physical talent. While the weaving structure of the narrative is admirably executed, the film's meta statement ultimately leads to a rather empty conclusion about the nature of stardom. The aesthetic of Singin' in the Rain is built around artifice. Every frame is staged, but some are stages-within-stages (notably the "Gotta Dance" sequence), adding an additional sense of artifice that contributes both to the meta narrative and the aesthetic. The shot composition and camera movements add very little to the film, but nonetheless it looks quite good.