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Strictly Ballroom | Year: 1993 Classification: Comedy Directed: - Baz Luhrmann Actors/Actresses: - Paul Mercurio - Tara Morice You Won't Admit You Love Me .... This is a wonderful, beautiful movie ' it is a little mixed, but it all works, with the flat, cartoonish elements which 'Baz' seems to prefer, conquered by the elements of actual drama and dance. Paul Mercurio dances very well, and he carries off a variety of routines; he manages the ballroom dancing fine, even though he is more a modern dancer by training; of course, his solo which is interrupted by Fran's approaching him, and steeling her nerves to ask him to dance with her; the laughable 'pseudo-Paso Doble' which excites such mirth; and the 'flamenco-in-training' with Antonio Vargas. Tara Morice and Mercurio are a terrific couple, and she does so well with the dancing, few would ever suspect that she was not herself actually a dancer. Vargas is fantastic. And crucially for the movie, Mercurio, Morice, Vargas and Armonia Benedito form the emotional heart of the movie, and they carry it off brilliantly. The unsung genius of the movie, for he serves as a crucial 'pivot' between this, the 'human' element of the story, and the cartoonish 'Baz' element (the comic-book caricatures which are Barry Fife, Les Kendall and Mrs Hastings), is Barry Otto as Doug Hastings ' within the confines of 'caricatureville' he is an object of scorn and contempt, and meekly escapes into his own dreams in a number of shadowy solo dance scenes (and impressively plastic in his movements, too). Otto comes close to stealing the scene when his insistence on 'bending Scott's ear' dispels the fog of Barry Fife's manipulative deceptions, at the last instant, when Scott and Liz were just about to go out to the dance floor for the Latin Finals ' and when his clapping conquers the Un-Music when Fife has pulled The Plug .... This is a fabulous movie, with some exhilarating dancing, and a great deal of charm. Indeed, it is a great movie, in spite of Baz Luhrmann. The more we have seen of Baz's work since 'Strictly Ballroom,' with his juvenile obsessions with breasts and sex, the color-blind dependence on gaudy extremes which we are invited to interpret as 'fresh vision,' the low-budget 'high concept' which The Blazoned Motto is supposed to represent ' the wonder is, that 'Strictly Ballroom' succeeds so marvelously well. The answer to this puzzle must lie in the fact that Baz was but a co-writer, and but a co-director of 'SB' ' so that the other party must have been the artistically responsible half, who made sure that 'SB' rose above Baz's conceptual limitations. Whenever we see something more recent by 'Baz,' and gag at its shallowness, we come back to 'SB,' and we wonder that he managed to get THIS movie so perfectly right. Five stars, though you won't need to bother with the 'Baz-ly' commentary, which is about 2% genuinely interesting information about the making of the movie, and 98% empty, self-flattering 'Baz-chat.' By turns Charmed, Zany, Touching, and Frenetic Strictly Ballroom is a great little movie, lively and shot through with warmth despite some truly crazed, broad, caricaturish minor performances. If this were a novel I'd describe it as having a distinctively funny, charming, idiosyncratic voice, and recommend it to friends who need a kick in the pants to cheer up a little. The dance contest plot of the movie drags a lot of disparate stuff along in its wake. You have your extremely winning ungainly-girl-whose-spirit-makes-her-lovely story, and your immigrants-in-a-new-country side, and your redemption-after-many-years moments... None of that is new material, but it all comes together with total assurance in ways you wouldn't have been especially prepared for. All the elements are snappily handled, lively and enjoyable, and in some cases they're really pretty poignant too. Several of the minor characterizations are surprising and memorable. That's always a good sign, isn't it? Along the way, too, you get a bunch of infectiously funny situations and some wryly delightful direction. (The choreography doesn't stop on the dance floor, but it's great there too.) I wouldn't describe Strictly Ballroom as displaying any "new steps," cinematically; I'd just say it dances the familiar ones extremely well in new, lively combinations. Watch it and dance in the living room afterward. Awesome movie, not so the DVD I have loved this movie for years, and had it on tape. I was so happy when I saw there was a DVD, and it had a commentary. But, surprise! The commentary is absoluely rotten. I can't believe people who could make such an entertaining movie couldn't find anything interesting to say about it. I found my self yelling at the TV screen for them to get moving. Don't remember ever doing that before... There are a few interesting extras, but really, the only thing I got for my money as a slightly clearer picture. Buy Strictly Ballroom at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Strictly Ballroom Search with the Priority Search Engine on Strictly Ballroom This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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