In The Heights
The Lin-Manuel Miranda moment really started with the Broadway debut of Hamilton, and it has continued to this day with the film premier of In the Heights, Miranda’s first broadway musical.
Recent live-action adaptations of hit stage musicals haven’t had the best record, but I’m glad to say that In the Heights breaks that curse. I haven’t seen the stage version so can’t really comment on it as an adaptation, but I will say that it works amazingly as a film. The director, Jon Chu, very much impressed me. His direction of the musical sequences makes them feel so alive, like they absolutely belong on the big screen. He isn’t afraid to go into full-on fantasy sequences with these songs and it is 100% the right decision, musicals are an inherently fantastical genre so that should be embraced.
The best compliment I can give the songs is that since watching the film a week ago, I have been listening to the soundtrack on repeat, with some of the songs being stuck in my head. When a soundtrack manages to stay alive in your head after you have seen the film, and manages to make you feel the experience of the film again, that’s what makes the movie musical such a great genre, and In the Heights achieves this. You can tell listening to these songs that they are from the guy who wrote Hamilton, but I would actually say that this style works better in the modern world of In the Heights. The music sounds like the music of the streets, obviously making it cohesive with the world of the film.
The personal element of this film is ultimately where the heart of it is. You can tell that this is a love-letter from Miranda to the streets, communities, and people he grew up with, and this film delivers its story in such a way that you feel what he is feeling. That love for home is something I think we can all relate too, I really understand that feeling so it moved me seeing it in this film.
If you hate musicals it might not be for you, but I love movie musicals and In the Heights for me is an instant classic entry for the genre. It has the Jacob Stamp of Approval.
