Rating of
4/4
Duck Soup
SteelCity99 - wrote on 04/22/18
Although I've never been particularly an avid fan of the Marx brothers, I accept that their films are funny and quite enjoyable to see. However, Duck Soup tops them all because of its genius. It does not only have unforgettable gags and unbelievably hilarious and absurd moments, but the political and social criticism it contains was very well thought. Whether a person has or not seen a Marx brothers movie before, that person will find this movie brilliant in several aspects.
Duck Soup tells the story of Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) who is named president of Freedonia, a small country that's going through a very difficult economical situation. Since this moment, crazy jokes and mayhem ensues for everybody. Things get worse once Rufus declares war on its neighbor country Sylvania.
The musical numbers, although random, were intentionally funny, random and, above all, satirical. Each Marx brother fully got into their own dumb, crazy role. Some sequences are very well constructed, especially for the scenarios, like in the final war sequence.
Duck Soup clearly demonstrates how dumb, blind and manipulated a particular government may be, and it is geniusly mirrored in a musical number when a court, with soldiers and police forces are imitating the Marx brothers ridiculous dance moves and gestures. I found that very interesting, and brilliant...
Best film of the Marx brothers definitely. Do not miss this one for anything in the world, since it's a very serious contestant for one of the best American classic comedies of all time.
97/100
