Brigadoon

A classic - if not the classic - Minnelli musical, Brigadoon is an explicit statement about (and partial criticism of) the notion that an artist only lives through his art, preferring its reality to the world's. The film begins with a disenchanted Kelly in flight from 'civilised' New York, lost in the Scottish Highlands and stumbling on the legendary village of Brigadoon which only appears for one day each century. There he meets the love of his life Fiona (Charisse), only to discover both the truth about Brigadoon and that some of its inhabitants want the real life he is fleeing from, even though it will destroy Brigadoon. Disillusioned when the villagers kill the would-be escapees, Kelly leaves. But in New York, amidst the chaos of modern living, he discovers he is yearning for Fiona and Brigadoon. He returns to Scotland where his faith (and Fiona's love) conjures up Brigadoon. This time he settles there, accepting that the price of happiness is to live but one day a century. As this description of the film makes clear, it (and Minnelli's musicals in general) is escapist to say the least. However, Minnelli's musicals must be seen alongside his dramas which examine the other side of the coin, the problems of confronting reality, rather than evading it or constructing one's own.