Barbie: the “I’m just Ken” musical scene saved by Singin’ in the Rain
“What’s a dream ballet?” This passage scared the production, so Greta Gerwig relied on a very famous reference to better understand her idea.
Greta Gerwig took part this weekend in the London Film Festival, organized by the BFI. The opportunity to look back on the crazy success of barbieand to confirm that she is already working on a new project, which will not be a sequel to her billionaire box office blockbuster.
“Yes, I’m working on something these days, but it’s hard, she answers. I’m writing and it’s giving me nightmares, recurring nightmares.” Is she talking about Narnia for Netflix ? Or another secret project? The director says no more.
On the other hand, Gerwig speaks with pleasure about the production of barbieand reveals having been invited to a “huge meeting” to take stock with her producers at Warner after reading the script, which she co-wrote with her partner Noah Baumbach. She remembers that one sentence in the script had scared them: the one-line summary of what would become “I’m Just Ken”the musical scene sung and danced by Ryan Gosling.
“In fact, in the script, it only said: ‘And there it turns into ‘dream ballet’ and they solve their problems through dance’, she tells Jesse Armstrong, the creator of Successionalso invited to talk about his successful series. We had this huge meeting where they told me: ‘Do you really need this?’ I answered them: ‘Every part of me needs this scene.’ They were like: ‘What does it mean ? What does a dream ballet mean?’ I was really confused, where to start?!”
The director found the solution by quoting Let’s sing in the rainand explaining that this reference musical contained “a dream ballet scene, within a dream ballet.” “I told myself that if people could follow Let’s sing in the rain, then they would understand, she specifies. The public knows what it is. So that became my reference for that scene.”
She admits that the hesitation of the Warner Bros bosses still pushed her to question this concept: “Even though I thought everything was going well, and I was delighted to see the way this scene turned out, I wondered if it wouldn’t make it look bad on screen. But it was too late, I I was committed.”
Greta Gerwig is specifically referring here to a daydream of Gene Kelly in the cult 1952 film, when he sees Cyd Charisse at a social party. He instantly imagines himself dancing with her, in an empty theater setting. The actor’s outfit, all black, is clearly a source of inspiration for the choreography of all the Kens in barbie. Here is the excerpt:
A few days ago, it was Mark Ronson, the producer of the film’s soundtrack, who told the making of this songand the way Ryan Gosling absolutely wanted to perform it, then got deeply involved in its recording and the filming of its choreography.
“Greta sent me a funny PDF that she and Noah had designed. They explained that Barbie’s introductory song should be about a perfect world, about how everything is going well, that there are no dark spots in the picture, and that if everything is always going well, and that was fine in the past, so in the future it will be fine too. They had noted this kind of ridiculous words. In contrast, Ken’s song was supposed to be something like: ‘I love horses, but at the same time, they drive me crazy.’ It was written : ‘Here are the hits of Barbie and Ken‘, which is fun to send to a composer: ‘Go ahead, write us two hits!’
(…)
I had the idea for the lyrics’‘I’m Just Ken, anywhere else I’d be a 10’. I didn’t think about it, saying to myself: ‘It has to be funny.’ I said to myself instead: ‘Poor guy, it sucks for him.’ I never thought of his song as being a parody or a meme.
(…)
“Right after receiving the demo, Gerwig replied: ‘Ryan wants to perform it.‘ I was surprised : ‘Really ?’ She adds : ‘Yes, he says it resonates deeply with him.’ I replied: ‘Is he being ironic?’ and she sent me: ‘No, I do not think so.’“
“I’m Just Ken” has since been a hit, integrating the top “Billboard’s Hot 100” during summer. The song became a hit, and its production is dissected in a making-of, which will undoubtedly be part of the bonuses of barbie when it is released on DVD and blu-ray, scheduled for November 22.
Debbie Reynolds: “Filming Singing in the Rain and giving birth were the two hardest things in my life”
