audrablum
This week I watched Baz Luhrmann's dramedy romance Strictly Ballroom (1992). The logline reads "A maverick dancer risks his career by performing an unusual routine and sets out to succeed with a new partner." I was excited to see the movie that launched Luhrmann into larger things, and I was not disappointed. There are parts of the film where you see his early directing choices that improved with time and parts of the film where he does his Baz-y thing and treats our eyes to something rich, original and beautiful. The story definitely took some over-the-top liberties, but remembering this is cinema the eccentricness can be overlooked. Typical of a Luhrmann piece, the mother and one other female is a complete diva, while the true starlett is of a calmer, quieter, and arguably more "ladylike". The story was a playful, parts were silly, but the climax of the film was a great payoff. The acting was good, some actors were naturally stronger than others. Overall, the production values were good, there were a few shooting errors, and a lot of overused elements, but I think that directors get experience over time. I think this is apparent through his later films like The Great Gatsby (2013) and Moulin Rouge! (2001). I enjoyed this movie and can't believe that I waited so long to see it!
rooprect
Long before the visually flamboyant director Baz Luhrmann gave us the blockbuster "Moulin Rouge", he made his debut with this quirky Aussie dancecom. The spirit of "Strictly Ballroom" is very campy, tongue-in-cheek and outright parodic, mercilessly skewering the pretentious world of ballroom dance competitions in a way that makes us wonder what planet this film was shot on.Immediately you might be reminded of the hilarious Christopher Guest mockumentaries (Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, etc), but Baz gives this production an extra little push over the cliff. Unapologetically departing from reality, he hits us with a hyper-saturated visual feast, coupled with the fact that the story is set in the 1970s, taking us to the edge of absurdist fantasy. The presentation is almost claustrophobic, in that the entire story takes place on basically just 3 sets: the dance school, the girl's home, and the competition arena), and yet the magnificent use of colorful sets, elegant camera work, and large spaces makes us feel like we're in some sort of bizarre Aussie Wonderland. That's the Terry Gilliam (Brazil) part.And if that blend isn't bizarre enough, get this. The plot itself is rooted in a very cute John Hughes-ish teen rebel story (Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller), thus appealing to our inner misfit youth. The combination is a real treat, and if any of these elements interest you, I guarantee you'll have a wild ride.The dancing and choreography is absolutely stunning. Paul Mercurio ("Scott") definitely has moves that would make Fred Astaire tip his top hat, and Baz allows for a few long segments so we can take it all in. At the same time, the dance segments don't interrupt the pacing and flow of the story. Somehow it all blends together seamlessly. I have to say, dance, comedy and surrealism is an unlikely mix, but it comes together brilliantly. That's something I haven't seen since the days of Jerry Lewis directing."Strictly Ballroom" is one of the most entertaining and engaging movies about dancing I've ever seen. If you enjoy this flick, definitely check out "Razzle Dazzle", another hilarious Aussie dancecom, which also features the lovely Tara Morice ("Fran") but in a role I guarantee you wouldn't recognize her in if I hadn't told you.
James Hitchcock
The Australian "New Wave" of the seventies and eighties, defined by films like "Walkabout", "Picnic at Hanging Rock", "Breaker Morant", "The Man from Snowy River" and "Gallipoli", even the "Mad Max" series, established a distinctive national school of film-making, characterised by an emphasis on Australia's past and her dramatic rural landscapes. "Strictly Ballroom" can be seen as part of a "New New Wave" concentrating more on a modern urban Australia.This was the first film to be directed by Baz Luhrmann and started life as a stage play written by Luhrmann himself some years earlier. The story is set (as the title might suggest) in the world of competitive ballroom dancing. Scott Hastings, a young dancer, has caused some controversy within the sport by adopting a style of dancing which is not "strictly ballroom" in that it uses steps and moves not approved by the rule-book. Hence the title. The film has bequeathed its initial adverb to the BBC's pro-celebrity ballroom dancing contest, "Strictly Come Dancing", even though in that particular context it looks rather ungrammatical. Scott has upset not only the judges and the sport's governing authorities, but also his dancing partner Liz, who leaves him for a rival, and even his parents Doug and Shirley, themselves noted ballroom dancers in their youth. Undeterred, Scott finds a new partner, Fran, and with her begins preparing for a major championship. Given that competitive ballroom dancing is, after all, a sport with its own rules, Scott's stance struck me as rather futile, the equivalent of a rugby team entering a football tournament and then complaining that they were only allowed to field eleven players, not fifteen, and that they had to play with a round ball, not an oval one. Luhrmann, however, obviously invites us to side with Scott and to regard his disregard of the rules as an admirable stand on behalf of individuality against conformism.The film forms part of what has become known as Luhrmann's "Red Curtain Trilogy", the other two parts being "Moulin Rouge" and "Romeo + Juliet". Despite being designated as a "trilogy" the three films do not have any characters or plot elements in common, and their only shared theme is a vague connection to the world of the theatre or of entertainment in general. There are, however, some stylistic resemblances between "Strictly Ballroom" and "Moulin Rouge", although fewer between these two films and "Romeo + Juliet", a modern-dress Shakespeare updated to the California of the nineties."Strictly Ballroom" relies heavily upon standard sporting drama clichés, notably the one about the plucky underdog who comes good. Although Scott is an experienced dancer, Fran is a mere beginner, with much less experience than Liz. She is also a social outsider, coming from a poor Spanish immigrant family and (in another cliché) is plain, bespectacled and dowdy. Of course, as soon as Fran takes off her glasses and lets her hair down she proves to be strikingly attractive. She also proves to be a formidable dance with the aid of her father who teaches her and Scott the authentic Spanish Paso Doble. There is also a storyline about Scott wanting to win the competition which eluded his father all those years ago. The film seems to be building up to the traditional conclusion in which Scott and Fran win a triumphant victory at the championships, thus confounding the doubters and a corrupt official who has been trying to fix the contest in favour of their rivals, although Luhrmann has a surprise up his sleeve which rather subverts all the clichés he has hitherto been relying on.One thing which the film shares with "Moulin Rouge" is a stylised, non- naturalistic style of acting, although nobody here overacts to quite the same extent as, say, Jim Broadbent did in "Moulin Rouge". As in the later film, the look of "Strictly Ballroom" is quite defiantly lurid with a palette dominated by vivid Day-Glo colours, especially reds but also pinks, yellows and lime greens, even if the camera-work is not so manic."Moulin Rouge" was a film I loathed, and "Strictly Ballroom" shares some of its faults, particularly an unattractive visual look and campy, mannered acting with deliberately overwrought emotions. Although Scott and Fran are supposed to be the heroes of this drama, I found it difficult to identify with them precisely because of the exaggerated way in which they are portrayed. In one respect, however, this is the better of the two films. "Moulin Rouge" is a musical made by people who can't sing. At least "Strictly Ballroom" is a dance film made by people who can actually dance, and the dance sequences are very well staged. It is, however, something of an acquired taste, and one I find myself unable to share. I am not, in fact, a great lover of the Red Curtain Trilogy as a whole; I (rather unfashionably) prefer Luhrmann's more recent productions, "Australia" (in which he seems to be reaching back to the traditions of the New Wave) and his masterly adaptation of "The Great Gatsby". 5/10
