Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
Guillelmina
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
sol-
Set in the world of competitive ballroom dancing, this debut feature from Baz Luhrmann follows the trials and tribulations of a younger dancer set on winning a major competition by using his own, unconventional dance moves. The film gets off to a very promising start with humorous character interviews inserted in and around the protagonist's first attempt to impress a panel of judges by dancing his own style at the last minute; the glittery ballroom costumes are also impressive right from the very first scene. As the film progresses though, any initial zany humour soon dissipates, and while kooky touches can still be found (comical extreme close-up shots), the story gradually settles into a rather conventional story of overcoming the odds. The young dancer also gets a new ballroom partner who is a bit too much of a classical underdog. She is a dowdy immigrant with less than perfect skin and thick glasses, but it is of course nothing that a makeover cannot fix as she soon becomes a good-looking star. To the film's credit though, it is never once boring even when the story sags. The choreography is often spectacular, the film rocks to an excellent sourced song soundtrack, and the supporting cast give it all they have got, especially Bill Hunter - best remembered as the title character's father in 'Muriel's Wedding'. Those deterred by Luhrmann's flashiness in his better known films may also be impressed with how restrained his directing hand here is, while at the same time there is enough razzle-dazzle to appease those who love that sort of thing.
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
charlessmith702210
Here, the movie starts in the Waratah Championships, a setup for the big Pan-Pacific Ballroom Championships later on. Scott Hastings had already danced a great Viennese waltz with former partner Liz Holt, and then, as the scene shifts to samba, Scott Hastings starts out great with Liz, and then, in the middle of the samba version of "Tequila" in the background, Scott explodes and does his overkill-laden solo trick steps way beyond what Liz could follow. Les Kendall, Scott's dance coach, explains the reason why Scott wanted to free himself--in the start of the samba, Les said that he was "boxed-in" by Ken Rallings and Tina Sparkles, which caused Scott to release a freedom type of dancing anger. Liz tries to keep up with Scott's unacceptable solo dance showmanship but then, Australian Dance Council chairman, Barry Fife, penalizes that couple major points causing Ken and Tina to win the Waratah title. Liz then finally cuts off her dance partnership with Scott after the competition at the next scene in the Kendall Dance Studio.Then, a new beginning dance partner, Fran, accosts Scott at the studio and make a ruse to be new partners and practice their routine in light of the upcoming Pan-Pacific Dance Championships. Fran's flamenco dance ability is given away a bit when she demonstrates a short tap sequence. Learning from the dancesport debacle in Waratah, Scott is still stubborn and decides to strongly bend the dancesport rules with "new steps" for the Pan-Pacific championships to try to impress Barry Fife. Barry is not happy about it and decides that Scott's "new steps" will never, ever be in the books in competition as long as Fife remains in power in Australian dancesport.In the middle of the movie, Tina Sparkle decides to retire from her partnership from Ken Railings, doing their final honor dance at a pre- competition social ballroom dance party, while at the same time, Scott and Fran, do a theatrical dance in quasi-silhouette to "Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps." This is where the disapproval of their partnership increases. Les Kendall now warns Scott that if you dance with Fran, you will never win the Pan-Pacific competition, but then suggests to Scott that if you partner up with Tina, you will have a 100 percent shot of winning the Pan-Pacific title.But then, Fran and Scott are caught by Fran's flamenco music family, forcing them to dance a paso doble, and then, eventually, Fran's father then teaches him the authentic Spanish paso doble. The solo focusing of the paso is the beginning of the recipe for almost total disaster on the start of the Pan-Pacific championships. In the appetizer paso doble heat in the competition floor, Fran does dance with an unknown lady, and then, as Scott arrives to face the forced partnering of Tina Sparkles with him for the Latin championship round, Scott decides at the last minute to dance with Fran in the second paso doble around with several professional Latin dance couples dancing. Barry Fife, already there, catches Fran and Scott in the action and orders the music powered down, and disqualifies both dancers for good. Fran and Scott, however, refuses to leave the floor and instead, with the help of Fran's family, dance a spectacular Spanish flamenco dance with strong paso feel, shocking the audience, and even Barry Fife himself. In the end, the audience comes out to the dance floor to get their chance to dance, and the guess is that even if disqualified--you can shock a crowd if you do a great unique dance, and that's what Fran and Scott did. They won their hearts, even if it is not a championship trophy!
tinchef-302-119503
I had never heard of this film and started watching it just after the intro credits ran by. I immediately thought this was a John Waters film. I thought this until a commercial came on and they mentioned the name of the director. I was surprised. The female lead character in this film is introduced. She has stained, crooked teeth. Her hair looks like the Bride of Frankenstein's... only worn in a ponytail. And on her face she's got the worst case of pimples I've ever seen in my life. She is clumsy too and is dressed essentially in one of Andre the Giant's old dirty T shirts. As the movie progresses she gradually becomes quite attractive and nimble on her feet. I don't understand that. Is she still ugly, but we are seeing her looks improve by viewing her through the eyes of her dance partner, who is falling in love with her? A love is blind sort of thing? Or does her growing self confidence miraculously transform her teeth, hair, complexion and wardrobe? Discounting those questions that I kept asking myself, I though this was a pleasant film. No violence to speak of. No foul language. No sex. Just a nice little film where dancers with lots of talent have the opportunity to showcase their craft. There's no heavy plot to follow and get you thinking. Purely for the entertainment value of the dancers. I certainly DO NOT think this was an amazingly wonderful, great, 10 star movie. I wonder if everybody else saw the same film as me. Honestly it was better than average, but not by a whole lot.
