I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. Hamilton was released earlier in the month on Disney+, and has managed to reignite all manner of debate about the musical.
In the case of the streaming release, one of the most heated discussions concerns the question of whether Hamilton is actually a movie in the conventional sense. This misses the point somewhat, as it’s immediately clear that Hamilton is not packaging the story for audiences, it is instead trying to offer a simulacra of the experience. It’s designed to replicate, as faithfully as possible on screen, the texture and tempo of a theatrical performance. Ironically, this is something that cinema has been trying to do for years, so it’s fascinating to see streaming pull it off so strongly.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: disney, disney plus, hamilton, lin-manuel miranda, streaming |
the m0vie blog 
Agree with your point about this being a theatrical experience, not a film. As someone who saw the Broadway production 3 times (alas, after the original cast had all gone), and has seen the Disney+ version, it’s definitely a Broadway show shot with extra cameras, not a feature film. But I picked up so much more detail and nuance from the TV edition than I did from the back of the orchestra or high up in the mezzanine.