![]() ![]() Loos also added two characters: Alicia's butler Victor and the Alvars' maid Sidonie. Aunt Alicia, for example, is made more prominent. Like any adaptation, the play does make changes to the source material. ![]() She ignores their criticisms, though, and lives in her own little world, forcing Grandmama to look after Gigi herself. This decision disappoints Grandmama and Alicia enormously, and they never hesitate to let Andrée know it. After having Gigi out of wedlock, she followed her passion of singing and spends all of her time practicing or performing in the chorus of the Opéra-Comique. Unlike her mother and aunt, Andrée didn't become a great courtesan. Something else the novella and the play have in common is Andrée, Gigi's mother. The book and play also clear up why Grandmama has the Spanish last name of "Alvarez," explaining that she adopted it from a past lover who was "a saint.with a wife who was a devil." For example, when talking to Grandmama (or, as Gaston calls her, Mamita) about his latest girlfriend, Liane, Gaston says outright that he caught Liane in bed with another man, something the 1958 film could only allude to. Both properties are risqué and blunt about their subject matter. When transforming the novella into a play, Anita Loos stayed relatively faithful to Colette's words. However, after much deliberation, Gigi gives in, telling Gaston "I would rather be miserable with you than without you." Overjoyed, Gaston closes the book by asking for her hand in marriage. When Gaston admits that he is in love with her, she is stunned and outraged that he would want such a tawdry life for her. To the shock of everyone, though, Gigi refuses to enter into such an arrangement. Aunt Alicia and Grandmama are thrilled with this turn of events, and negotiate with Gaston for Gigi to become his mistress. One day, Gaston is surprised to realize that Gigi is no longer a little girl but instead an attractive, desirable young woman. Gigi's greatest joy in life is spending time with rich playboy Gaston Lachaille, a family friend who relieves his perpetual boredom by visiting with Gigi and her grandmother. ![]() Instead of experiencing a normal childhood, the girl has been isolated and is forced to attend lessons at her Aunt Alicia's house. Gigi is set at the turn of the 20th century and provides a rather frank look at the Alvar women as they prepare young Gigi for the family tradition of living life as a courtesan. Her most famous piece was Gigi, which was inspired by Yola Letellier, the wife of Henri Letellier, the publisher of Le Journal and the former mayor of Deauville. So, grab some licorice and a cup of chamomile tea, because this is going to be super long extensive.īy 1944, Colette was a well-known, accomplished author whose works often focused on love and sex. ![]() Instead, I decided to do a deep dive into the world of Gigi, Grandmama, Aunt Alicia, and Gaston by looking at the three most important versions of their narrative: the original novella, the 1951 play, and Minnelli's film. This film holds a really special place in my heart, so much so that I knew doing a regular review of it wasn't what I wanted to do. Just two years later, Anita Loos adapted the story for Broadway Gigi would return to the Great White Way as a musical in 1973 and as a short-lived revival in 2015.īut, of course, when we think of Gigi, the first thing that comes to mind is Vincente Minnelli's 1958 masterpiece. Readers loved it, and in 1949, the first film version was made in France. While the premise sounds vulgar, Colette's novella manages to be humorous, romantic, and sharp, much like Gigi herself. She first appeared in 1944 as the heroine of French author Colette's novella, which tells the story of Gigi's progression from a mischievous tomboy to a lovely young woman as she is groomed by her Great-Aunt Alicia and Grandmama to become the mistress of wealthy Gaston Lachaille. Gigi Alvar is a girl who has had many lives. ![]()
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