Is 'A Star is Born' a comedy or drama?

With Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga's smash hit attracting awards buzz, in what category should it be nominated at this years Golden Globes?

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in 'A Star is Born' (Warner Bros./MGM)

by Jack Linsdell

Bradley Cooper's directorial debut starring singer-turned actress Lady Gaga, 'A Star is Born' has earned rave reviews, red-hot awards buzz and crossed $200 million worldwide in box office receipts after three weeks of release. However, it was recently announced that the flick was being submitted into the Golden Globes this awards season as a drama, not a musical, surprising many. Having seen the film today (read my review here), my opinion is that the film is truly a musical in disguise as a drama. I believe, Warner Bros./MGM and all involved believed that if entered as a musical, the flick would easily claim the top prize. However, if that happened, not only does it make it harder for a best picture win at the Oscars and BAFTA's, but they might of perceived it to mean less as it was an "easy" win. Therefore, being a drama is a harder fight, and if it does achieve the top prize (and it deserves to), then fair play to it. 

The key to answering the question of is it a musical or a drama, is posing another question. If you remove the music from the film, is it still as effective? The answer is no. 

In recent years, audiences have come to define the musical as a explicitly PG rated, family targeted, crowd-pleasing flick, where characters quite literally break out into song and dance in the street. The successes of 'Mamma Mia', 'Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again', 'La La Land' and 'The Greatest Showman' since 2008, have indeed made musicals more commercially viable for studios and most them have delivered high-quality entertainment. But, this is just one version of a musical. Indeed, a musical is distinctly defined as being a film in which plot and character is told through musical numbers (whether original or not). And, 'A Star is Born' is a musical by nature, like it or not. 

Cooper has stated that the film's soundtrack "really became a character in the movie", adding that "there is no lyric that's ever in any point of the movie that doesn't have exactly to do with where one of them is or hope to be or regrets about nothing". Indeed, many of the musical numbers help propel the plot forward. The first performance of "Shallow" is the scene when Jack forces Ally to perform with him on stage, and if removed from the plot, her career never kickstarts. When Gaga performs "I'll Never Love Again", her grief over Jack's death doesn't happen and she doesn't reach a solace in feeling like her life can go on, despite the emotional loss she's suffered. And, when Jack first hears Ally sing "La Vie en Rose", that is the song that makes him fall in love with her and without it the rest of the plot doesn't happen. The point is that the film's narrative is dependent on its musical numbers to move it forward and/or develop characterisation, making it officially a musical. 

Even though the film is an adult-targeted and rated musical and the musical numbers are often contained, realistic and individual/duet affairs, it doesn't not make it a musical by definition. Indeed, the film is about two singers for gods sake and music is the main heart/focus of the movie. If you remove the music from 'A Star is Born', the film doesn't make sense and certainly doesn't have the impact and emotionally intensity that it has. And, surely the fact that the film is promoting its soundtrack album into the charts also signifies how much the music helps make the film. Indeed, like Michael Gracey's 'The Greatest Showman', the ground-breaking success of the film's soundtrack in the charts is often used as another form of advertising for the film - getting its music to a wider audience will mean more will visit their local cinema to check it out. 

Yes, for appearances, the Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga flick is an emotionally depth and complex drama about the rise and fall of showbiz and a love relationship, but at it's heart the film is a true musical by definition. I like to call it a musical-drama because it combines both to become the masterpiece it is. However, for the sake of human beings needing to classify things and the procedures of the awards system, the studio had to class it as one or the other, when it actual fact it is both but really a musical.