What\u2019s particularly notable about Strictly Ballroom <\/em>is how closely it predicts what Luhrmann would <\/strong>realize on a more spectacular level with his most recent film, Elvis<\/em>. At the center, there\u2019s a young talent whose rocking moves and musicality shake and break the rules of their art forms. The narrative arc of artistic development argues that musical brilliance comes from authenticity and the embrace of musical \u201croots.\u201d (Fran\u2019s family is Spanish, and she and Scott really find their groove when they incorporate traditional dance steps into their routine.) The most striking commonality is in its representation of scheming, ruthless gatekeepers and impresarios who stifle real talent. Some of the close shots of the sweaty, bulbous face of Barry Fife, the snide huckster who presides over the dance association, seem to map directly onto Luhrnann\u2019s representation of Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis\u2019s oily leech of a manager. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At least until the better-than-expected reception of Elvis<\/em>, there was a reading of Luhrmann\u2019s career that prized Strictly Ballroom<\/em> as his own masterpiece of youthful exuberance, <\/strong>followed by a slow slide into overblown aesthetic decadence. (The idea is that Luhrmann\u2019s filmmaking was best when it was \u201csimpler\u201d and \u201cfrom the heart,\u201d before massive budgets gave free rein to his worst excesses.) This is not quite accurate. Despite hIs unwavering commitment to naive earnestness, Luhrmann has always liked touches of comedy and ironic undercutting. This is actually the dominant mood in Strictly Ballroom<\/em>, which frames its artistic-romantic story with Christopher Guest\u2013style mockumentary. Scott\u2019s naysayers give pearl-clutching talking-head interviews. (The comic tone is least successful with the running commentary by Scott\u2019s younger siblings, two mugging moppets that tip the film into smarm.) Though this frame undoubtedly adds to the film, you could wish for just a few minutes more of the sweeping romance of his later work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luhrmann\u2019s artistic credo\u2013his unique vision and sometimes his downfall\u2013is that genuine artistry can be represented through artificial means. If spangly split screens can somehow get at Elvis\u2019s elementally sexy charisma, Strictly Ballroom <\/em>uses more basic techniques that combine the straightforward and the over-the-top. He clearly takes great pleasure in a lavish treatment of the spray-tanned and sequined glamor of the ballroom dancing scene, but there is great power in the smaller but still flashy details he adds to Scott and Fran\u2019s scenes. (The full-body shots let us appreciate the beauty of the dancing.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n He can pull powerful emotional moments from small embellishments, like a close-up of Fran\u2019s feet tapping in anticipation, wearing tube socks with her glittery gold heels. In the film\u2019s climactic moment, when the music is cut at the big competition, Fran and Scott dance in complete silence, and it\u2019s absolutely stunning. The moment that sticks the most, though, is of Fran and Scott dancing their steps \u201cfrom the heart\u201d on a rooftop, with a sparkly Coca-Cola advert behind them. It\u2019s a quintessential Luhrmann image: the purity of art and love against a background of kitschy glitz. He would play with it more in his subsequent work, particularly Romeo + Juliet <\/em>and Moulin Rouge<\/em>. These, along with Strictly Ballroom<\/em>, make up what Luhrmann has called his \u201cRed Curtain\u201d trilogy, all expressive explorations of the possibilities of theatricality in cinema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet Strictly Ballroom<\/em> <\/em><\/strong>sticks out in the Red Curtain trilogy because of its concern with middle age. Luhrmann usually cares mostly for the absolute sincerity and emotional intensity of youth. But here he gives almost equal attention to the backstory of Scott\u2019s parents, whose own disappointments and regrets about their past dancing career have shaped their hopes for Scott. When Scott first learns about his parents\u2019 past, Luhrmann tells the story through a tableau reenactment that\u2019s also strangely affecting in its cheesiness. Pat Thomson, as Scott\u2019s mother, gets right into Luhrmann\u2019s groove: she\u2019s a caricature of a prim and squawking stage mom, but can play the sincere notes when the role requires. Barry Otto also shines as Scott\u2019s father, a crumpled mild-mannered man who turns out to be full of surprises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s really these touches that make Strictly Ballroom <\/em>worth revisiting today. Luhrmann, for all his excesses, is seen as remarkably consistent in his art. While Strictly Ballroom<\/em> lays out a roadmap for his filmmaking career, it also reminds us of the ways he can surprise us.\u00a0 His debut feature, which hit Australian theaters 30 years ago, remains the skeleton key for everything that followed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":634,"featured_media":18748,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1399,1428],"tags":[1429,1422],"class_list":["post-18746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-looking-back","category-happy-birthday","tag-happy-birthday","tag-looking-back"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/634"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21894,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18746\/revisions\/21894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/strictly2-1024x683.jpg\")
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