The Greatest Movie of All Time: Funny Girl

Funny Girl is an amazing story based on the real life of an American model named Fanny Brice. Fanny Brice died in 1951 at age 59. In 1964, Barbra Streisand starred in the Broadway show Funny Girl and 4 years later, in 1968, in the movie adaptation.

The movie opens in the early 1920’s. Fanny Brice has an amazing talent for singing and acting but isn’t what most would call pretty. After Fanny’s friend hears her sing, he puts her in a show. She messes up at a drastic level and the crowd laughs. They think she’s funny. The man who ran the show offers to pay Fanny to continue to be a funny girl. After the show, Fanny meets a very handsome gentleman by the name of Nick Arnstein (played by Omar Sharif).

My only issue with this movie is that Nick Arnstein seems slightly demented. Watch the movie and you’ll see what I mean.

Anyway, Fanny slowly becomes very famous. She marries Nick Arnstein and she lives in his giant mansion with him. Wondering where he got that mansion? He’s a gambler. A very steady lifestyle I know. I guess sitting in a dark room with a bunch of old men trying to pretend you knew what you’re doing was considered classy back then. They also smoked cigars on trains though so perhaps they weren’t the most educated.

Nick’s having a bad losing streak and feels threatened by his wife’s growing fame. He misses the opening night to one of Fanny’s shows and she starts to suspect something’s wrong. Is she gonna figure out he’s a demon who’s trying to steal her soul, because that’s the impression I’m getting from him? He wears far too many ruffled shirts.

Fanny tries to help Nick by going behind his back and he kicks her out. She pays for his house! Why is he kicking his only source of income out?

It’s a very sad story but it’s also a story of classic misogyny. Nick can’t stay with the woman he loves because she’s making more money and is more successful than him. Maybe he should have found a better job than a gambler and professional creepy-looks-giver.

Stories like this still happen to this day.

Many men want to be the main breadwinner of the house. The woman created the baby so that’s her problem.

A woman will rethink her life. She’ll wonder if she should follow her dreams or stay with the man she loves. This is just a classic case of loving the wrong person, no matter how much they tear you down.

The last scene of the movie is Fanny Brice singing in front of a crowd. The background is black. She sings a song about love. A song about loving someone so much they make all your troubles go away. But what if that love is your problem?

Barbra Streisand is, I believe, the best singer in the history of the world. She has a voice that would make Mariah Carey and Celine Dion Jealous. If it wasn’t for her, this movie wouldn’t have a rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

She stars in this broken love story of a girl with an extraordinary talent manipulated by an egotistical vampire who can only love a woman that is less than him in almost all ways.

Sincerely,

Flora