ule to produce a four-and-a-half-hour film (in original cut) that was a cross
between a revisionist musical and a film noir.
In many ways, the film’s narrative draws from the conventions of the
classic backstage musical where song and dance routines are integrated into
a romance between performers. Francine (Minnelli) and Jimmy (De Niro)
meet, fall in love, marry, and fall out of love, while at the same time per-
forming first together and then separately. According to Schatz, the “basic
oppositions inherent in the musical genre . . . deal with sexual relationships
and the paradoxical notions of success, artistic achievement, and individual
happiness” (Old Hollywood 93). As with a film like A Star Is Born (1954), one
of Scorsese’s references for New York, New York, the romantic fortunes of the
couple are entwined with their professional lives. In the film Francine and
Jimmy initially work together, but their musical visions differ, with her
interests tending toward more popular big band and cabaret performance
and his directed toward jazz. Their relationship sours as she pursues both
her career and motherhood rather than supporting his quest for musical
success, all while he slowly comes to realize that one facet of his success is
dependent upon his relationship with her.
According to Scorsese, the sets were “designed to [be] like the musicals
beginning in about 1945,” with an overall look of MGM and Universal films
of that era (Friedman, Scorsese 102). In a break from his previous films,
which were characterized by location shooting and direct sound, Scorsese
shot the film exclusively on a soundstage with elaborate sets. The result both
recalls classic film musicals and self-consciously underscores New York, New
York’s own artificiality in scenes in which the backdrops are blatantly two-
dimensional; for example, the film’s extended opening section was shot in
front of a painted skyline of Manhattan, and slightly later Francine and
Johnny profess their love for each other on a set made of fake snow and a
painted forest. According to Scorsese, “We called it New York, New York, but
my concept of the film could never be shot in New York. . . . When I was a
kid I [would] see films that took place in New York, but the streets looked dif-
ferent to me. The curbs were the wrong size. The people looked kind of
strange and lifeless, walking around, and very polite” (qtd. in Kelly 102). The
film’s stylization, therefore, was partially a product of Scorsese’s attempt to
capture the look of classic musicals and partially an attempt to put his own
stamp on the genre. The result was “not ‘the past’ but a filtered remembrance
of things past seen in terms of other films” (Copeland D1), almost, like with
Star Wars, as if quotation marks had been painted on the film’s frames.
The film’s hyper-artificiality was a key factor in its breaking the codes
of the classic musical, but what set it apart from other musicals of the time
1977 — MOVIES AND A NATION IN TRANSFORMATION 193