Brigadoon

Is it controversial to share that you were enchanted by Vincente Minnelli’s film version of Brigadoon? A quick look at the critical reception shows a mixed/positive reception, and I can understand that. Buying into Brigadoon requires you to accept the complete unreality of the world, and a camera that largely remains stationary in order to absorb the masterful dancing.

The story concerns a magical Scottish town that only manifests and reawakens once every 100 days and two vacationing Americans (Gene Kelly and Van Johnson) who accidentally discover it. Kelly falls in love with Cyd Charisse’s Fiona, and much of the plot involves Kelly and Johnson getting to know the denizens, customs, and whether Kelly will forsake his modern life to live forever with Charisse. Sure, that plot doesn’t sound like much, but between the dancing, the beauty of the scenery, and Minnelli’s restless camera breathing life into it all.

“Heather on the Hill” aches with swooning romance as Kelly and Charisse flirtatiously dance through the Scottish countryside. The sexual innuendo of the material is hinted at through the subdued fire of their choreographic chemistry. In much the same way that “The Chase” elevates the danger of the material by providing Minnelli a chance to go crazy with the shadows, color, and busyness of the frame. “Waiting for My Dearie” has Charisse and her sisters, friends dancing around in celebration of the upcoming wedding. It was this scene that had me buying exactly what Brigadoon was selling, and everything else was extra.

If there is any weak point in Brigadoon it is Van Johnson’s comedic sidekick. He grumbles around the periphery in a permanently drunken stupor and adds a bit too much sourness. A little bit is good, but he’s a mean drunk with no payoff.

This isn’t a Scottish highland that has much to do with reality and one that has everything to do with dreams and imagination. Leave it to Minnelli to explore the ways in which escapist fantasy lures and attracts us away from the real world. I would argue that Brigadoon is one of several misunderstood or undervalued minor works in Minnelli’s oeuvre, like The Pirate or Cabin in the Sky.