Strictly Ballroom

Please note the purpose of this blog is to discuss established classics that I've never seen. As such, the following is laden with spoilers.

Why So Long?
Simply put, I'm not that a big a fan of Baz Luhrman. To clarify, I've nothing against the man or his films but Luhrman is one of those directors who's work inspires near fanaticism. Those who like his work tend to really like his work. Again, this is fine, there's nothing wrong with a bit of enthusiastic fandom but this enthusiasm can be off-putting to others. Especially when you've seen the likes of Moulin Rouge and found yourself (at best) unmoved and (at worst) perplexed.



And?
Subtlety and Luhrman are not words that are commonly found in the same sentence, nay, paragraph. And I do find myself surprised to be using the term in a film about ballroom dancing, this being the world of rhinestones, heels and impossibly tailored gowns. Yet, its the subtleties within this film that make it, in my view, Luhrman's best work. I'm not going to milk the description, this film wont be accidentally mistaken for a Merchant Ivory number. The rags-to-super-riches ascent of this film are well chronicled and Luhrman followed this up with his adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, or to put it another way, this is the only film where Luhrman has had to work within budget constraints. We can see the Baz Luhrman of Moulin Rouge poking out from behind the celluloid but he can't fully indulge his whims yet, he's been forced to work smarter here.

Like a lot of first-time filmmakers, Luhrman is obviously enamoured with the camera and all he is capable of achieving with it. Of course, he only got more enamoured as time went on. With other first-timers this approach can appear amateurish, such as Luhrman's overuse of the wide-angle lense when in close-up and well, the overuse of close-ups in general. Here though, this ridiculousness in emphasis only serves to re-enhance the central ludicrousness at the core of the film. I mean, how else does one frame people who are so anally wrapped up in the intricacies of something, that to the outsider at least, is so trivial? This use of the grotesque for humor purposes has a long and prominent history in Australian and New Zealander independent cinema, so there's that as well.

Take for example, the "Pan-Pacific Grand Prix", an event the film makes out to be the Palm d'Or of the ballroom circuit. Those words get more air time than than "corazón" in Spanish rock. When the third act rolls around and we finally get to attend to this event, this "Grand Prix" is clearly a very regional event. One can't help but wonder if latter day Luhrman would have jettisoned this sight-gag in favour of a set-up befitting the competition's title (hint: yes).

"Pam Shortt's broken both her legs, and I wanna dance with you."

As for the story itself, its one as old as cinema, probably older but no-one will ever care as long as its told this well. From the opening set-up it doesn't take a genius to work out where this is all going, from the subplot about the father who appears to have two left-feet, to the clumsy-dowdy partner who, if she only took off those glasses and did her make-up better...you get the idea. What counts here though is one's investment in the characters. Our leading man, Scott Hastings (Paul Mercurio) could easily be a loathsome prick. Yet Mercurio invests a vulnerability in the character, this possibly arises from (at the time) being an unknown outside of the Australian ballroom circuit. Similarly, once the glasses are off Fran (Tara Morice) refuses to be mere sparkly window dressing for our hero - something we can't say for all the ugly-ducking transformations in cinema history. There's probably a good Sight and Sound article to be written on how the ugly-duckling trait evolved into the manic-pixie. 


Will You Be Watching It Again?
Probably, you know how all families have a selection of films that were basically on repeat in their households? Well, this along The Birdcage and Aliens make up my wife's version of that library.


Has Any Light Been Shone on Some Heretofore Unknown Bit of Pop Culture?
People angrily yelling "Scott!"