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Thirty Years Just Flies By – Strictly Ballroom – A Rewatch Review
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On 10th May 1992 a film was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and received a fifteen minute standing ovation. Then an agent from the Rank Organisation dashed in to snap up the UK film rights. It was the debut feature from a young Australian auteur who would go on to win awards for theatre, film, and TV work. He is Baz Luhrmann and the film was Strictly Ballroom.
With what may seem like a great deal of braggadocio for a first time director, Strictly Ballroom is the opening film in the โRed Curtain Trilogyโ. Iโm not sure when Mr Luhrmann developed the concept of this trilogy but Iโd like to think it was early on and he had the confidence and talent to see it through. For those whoโve never heard of it, Baz Luhrmannโs Red Curtain Trilogy is not like other trilogies out thereโฆ
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A Life Lived In Fear Is A Life Half Livedย
The three films that make up the trilogy are Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, and Moulin Rouge! Those three films donโt share any plot or character relationships, rather like Edgar Wrightโs Cornetto trilogy. What they do share are theatre motifs; dance in Strictly Ballroom, poetry and language in Romeo + Juliet, and song in Moulin Rouge!
Iโll say right from the start that Strictly Ballroom is a firm favourite of mine. Ever since I found it in the early nineties. Itโs one of my multi-format favourites; seen in the cinema, and owned on VHS, DVD, Blu Ray, and download. It is watched several times a year and is one of those films that still elicits a physical response at certain points.
What is Strictly Ballroom all about? I suppose this is the time that I should be issuing spoiler warnings. But, as the great man himself once said about his work, โwithin the first ten minutes you know how it’s going to end.โ I think I can be allowed a bit of latitude when it comes to a thirty year old film!ย
A Beginner Has No Right To Approach An Open Amateurย
Strictly Ballroom is the story of Scott Hastings (Paul Mercurio). He is the son of ballroom dancers and has been dancing since he was six years old. He looks destined to be the next Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Amateur Five Dance Latin American champion but he is not a happy bunny. Heโs mastered all the official dances and has won all the local area competitions but heโs become bored with all that and has started devising his own steps.
But then came the The Southern Districtโs Waratah Championship. Specifically, the Rumba! Scottโs arch rival, Ken Railings (John Hannan), forces Scott and his partner, Liz Holt (Gia Carides), into a corner.ย Refusing to be trapped Scott dances his way out but, in order to do so, he has to dance his own, unorthodox steps. While this gets him out of a sticky spot it annoys the Australian Dancing Federation president Barry Fife (Bill Hunter).
If we werenโt way back in 1992 Iโd have said that Bill Hunter was doing a Donald Trump impersonation! Too much fake tan, a very dubious hair style, self opinionated, bullying, sexist, and incapable of saying a sentence without including a malapropism. However, this is before Donald Trump became Donald Trump so it must just be a coincidence.
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I Have To Help Wayne With His Bogo Pogoย
What Barry Fife is so annoyed and upset about is that he has a lot to gain by maintaining the status quo and outlawing “flashy, crowd pleasing steps”. His competitions, training schools, and instructional videos only have any value as long as everyone sticks to the same routinesโฆremains Strictly Ballroom. At one point Fife says โWhere do you think we’d be if everyone went around making up their own steps?โ To which Scott replies โOut of a job!โ
What follows is fairly predictable. Arguments back at the dance studio run by Scottโs parents, Doug (Barry Otto) and Shirley (Pat Thomson). Liz doesnโt want to dance with Scott because Scott wonโt follow the rules. Thanks to a freak accident, Liz leaves Scott to go and dance with Ken Railings. So now Scott has three weeks to find a partner for the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Amateur Five Dance Latin American Championship finals.
Enter Fran, Tara Morice in her feature debut. Fran is the archetypal ugly duckling; thanks to heavy make up, huge glasses, dodgy hair, and dowdy clothes. Sheโs only been dancing for two years and hasnโt had a male partner yet. That doesnโt stop her telling Scott that she likes his new steps and thinks that they should dance together in the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Amateur Five Dance Latin American finals.
Son, Can I Bend Your Ear For A Tick?ย
There then follows all manner of completely predictable situations. Fran teaches Scott something. Things start to go right but get dashed. Fran gets more and more beautiful. Scott learns the true spirit of Latin American dance. Barry Fifeโs lies are uncovered. Ultimately, everything resolves to a happy ending. There is trope upon theme upon motif but, guess whatโฆIT DOESNโT MATTER!!!
It plays with the concept. Sets up jokes, telegraphs them even but, when the punch line arrives, itโs still funny. Thatโs down to the delivery and acting skills of the cast particularly from youngster Kylie (Lauren Hewett). But all the cast are excellent; both the seasoned veterans and the relative newcomers. Despite this being a debut feature for the director and some of the cast they all perform as naturally as if this was a documentary or a news report.
Without the benefit of a chat with the man himself, I have to assume that one of the reasons why Strictly Ballroom was such a roaring success was because it wasnโt, by any means, unknown territory. Back in 1984, when Baz Luhrmann was a student of the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney, he set up a short play with fellow students based on his earlier experiences of the cutthroat world of amateur competitive ballroom dancing.ย
There Are No New Steps!ย
An expanded version of the play became a success at the Czechoslovakian Youth Drama Festival in Bratislava in 1986. In 1988, it had a successful season at Sydney’s Wharf Theatre, where it was seen by Australian music executive Ted Albert and his wife Antoinette. They both loved it, and, they went to Luhrmann with their plan to transform his play into a film. He agreed on the condition that he would also get to direct it. So, while Strictly Ballroom may have been his debut, thereโs no doubt Baz had a very firm vision of how the finished film should look.
Sadly, Ted Albert died suddenly early in production and there is a dedication to him in the credits. Another sad event was that Pat Thomson, who played Scottโs mother Shirley Hastings, died on the 19th April 1992, three weeks before the premiere.
The obvious thing that lifts Strictly Ballroom is the dancing. After allโฆitโs a film about dancing, based on a play about dancing, written by someone who had been a dancer in his youth. The obvious thing to seal the deal would be to make sure that there are some actors who can, at least, look like they can dance.ย This production had five professional dancers in the cast: Paul Mercurio (Scott Hastings), Todd McKenney (Nathan Starkey), Antonio Vargas (Rico, Franโs father), Sonia Kruger (Tina Sparkle), and Leonie Page (Vanessa Cronin).
The Rumba Is The Dance Of Love
And, obviously, in order to dance you need some music! The soundtrack is a joy. There are old favourites for the old time dances; the overture from Carmen, The Blue Danube, โPerhaps, Perhaps, Perhapsโ by Doris Day, and La Cumparsita. There are also some newer tunes which have been rearranged.ย
There is a delightful reworking of Cyndi Lauperโs Time After Time sungย by Tara Morice. Itโs used to link the early โgetting to know each otherโ scenes between Scott and Fran. It drifts in and out between shots of Scott and Fran and whatever else is going on around the dance studio. It starts at 21:38 and finishes at 31:15; the ten minutes fly by!
Obviously, though, everything is saved up for the big finale. It was the first scene shot and was filmed at a real dance competition during the lunch break. The golden jacket worn by Scott was the most expensive costume in the entire film. The flamenco shoes were imported from Spain. Paul Mercurio may have been a dancer but he danced ballet rather than ballroom. Despite that he filmed the final dance perfectlyโฆeven with a sprained ankle.
Shame On You, Miss Leachman!
The final dance still elicits a profound physical response in me. When the music kicks back in for Scott and Franโs Paso Doble, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Every. Single, Time! It is a combination of admiration for the dancing skill and sheer joy at the resolution of the narrative. As I said earlierโฆthis is not a new story and there are no surprises but that doesnโt matter in the slightest.
Strictly Ballroom has been a family favourite here for most of the thirty years it has been around. It was my daughter who saw the 30th anniversary announcement from the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia and passed it on to me. She also loves this film and I think my grandchildren will be being introduced to it before too much longer. Just to embarrass herโฆwe went through a period of finding lip marks on the same spot on the TV screen every day. We were watching Strictly Ballroom and noticed a point when Paul Mercurio filled the screen and his lips matched up with the smears that kept appearing on the TV!
Incidentally, most countries have a version of a pro-am dance competition. They redefine who is a celebrity and then pair them up with a professional dancer. There follows weeks of training and dance offs until a retired newsreader, politician, or cricketer is crowned that years winner. Most other countries call their version โDancing With The Starsโ or something similar. In the UK it is called โStrictly Come Dancingโ. ย There was a televised dancing competition called โCome Dancingโ here from 1949. Guess where the โStrictlyโ came fromโฆ
Movie Grade: A++
Is there anything extra during the end credits of Blade Runner?
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Former teacher, lecturer, homelessness administrator, pharmacy dispenser now happily retired, happily married, and a very happy granddad. I live next to the Mersey but on the side Daniel Craig and Taron Egerton come from rather than the side the Beatles came from!
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Comments
2 responses to “Thirty Years Just Flies By – Strictly Ballroom – A Rewatch Review”
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OMGOSH!!!
I thought I was the only person in the universe to revel in the glory of Strictly Ballroom! Itโs a movie I first purchased on VHS way back when, and then on DVD, too. My niece was raised on Disney movies by her parents. She got Strictly Ballroom from me โ not one person is sorry about that. Heck my sister just quoted a line from it yesterday!Itโs a Romeo & Juliet meets Footloose meets ballroom dancing down under, and it is sublime. The growth of the characters, the music, the dancing, the culture. It is wonderful.
Thank you for writing about Strictly Ballroom. Itโs one of those โthe best movie no one has ever seenโฆor even heard aboutโ kinds.
You made my day. -
Thank you, Terri!
Yes, it’s wonderful to find out that there’s somebody else out there who shares your enthusiasm for a film; I got a similar reaction when I wrote about The Long Kiss Goodnight last year.
Everyone goes nuts over Moulin Rouge!, rightly so, but they often don’t even know about Strictly Ballroom. It is a beautiful film which I’m so pleased I could share with my daughter and am now sharing with my granddaughter.
One of the biggest joys of writing for RunPee is that I am, pretty much, free to write about whatever I want. That’s why I occasionally write something for no other reason than I just feel like it! It may seem a little selfish but that’s offset when someone takes the trouble to leave a comment and makes me realise that some of my aimless ramblings actually get read!
Again, thank you.
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