- The audience knows the ending from the beginning.
- There is a theatrical element of some kind.
- There is a heavy emphasis on art and form.
- There are elements that remind us that the world we are seeing is not real.
- Related to the above, the films can be described by the term "fantastical realism".
It is important to remember that Strictly Ballroom was the first of the Red Curtain trilogy films (and Luhrmann's very first feature ever) so he didn't yet know that he was going to make a trilogy that would follow those rules. For that reason, this film might not follow them as strictly as the latter two Red Curtain films ... or maybe it does.
So, for your blog post today, you only have to do one thing: write about how well the film adheres to each of the five elements of the Red Curtain trilogy mentioned above. Refer to specific moments or attributes of the film to make your point. Or, if you feel the film does not do one of those five things very well, write about that and back up your opinion with instances from the film.
I definitely underestimated this film. I've heard a lot about Baz Luhrmann over the years, but have never seen one of his films. I must say I am impressed! The film was fun, well directed, and definitely had an awesome style to it. I'll definitely check out more of Baz Luhrmann.
ReplyDelete1. I actually had a really hard time telling what moment in the beginning of the film showed the audience the way it was going to end. After a while (I spent a LOT more time thinking about this question then I should have), I decided I was looking too much into it and decided for a simple solution: The first dance in the intro. It's simple, the protagonist comes dances with an experimental partner, tries out some new and frowned-upon dance moves much to his friends and family's dismay, and loses the competition (though in the end he wins). I do realize I probably have it wrong, but you know what, I think that this is what it is!
2. I think the theatrical element in the film is something I realized pretty early on: The characters are almost always wearing makeup. Seriously, go back and watch the movie, there characters, most especially the mother, are ALWAYS wearing makeup! And while this is definitely the primary reason, there are the other smaller reasons two. The almost random dance scenes, the never-quiet dialogue, and the zoom-in flashlight-under-the-chin shots. They're everywhere.
3. The heavy emphasis on art and form is really simple: Experimenting is good! I know it's probably a lot more "complex" than that, but that's really the gist of it. Try out new things, expand the status quo, and have fun doing it.
4. I think everything explained in question two goes into this question to be honest, though maybe the abundance of melodrama in the film is also a factor. Seriously this film had a lot of melodrama.
5. Yes it can, yes it can. I just realized I wasn't really supposed to write about these numbered questions as numbered questions. Silly me!
1. The beginning showed our main character dancing for that dance contest and eventually does his own thing towards the end which sabotages his chance of winning. So the audience knows that he will do what he wants rather than anybody else thinks. When the film actually gets into the plot and gets near the end, we thought he would chose the girl who he was dancing with in beginning of film, instead he chooses the other girl instead. Which quite wasn't what we saw from the beginning.
ReplyDelete2. The one element i kept noticing is when the characters would start dancing and music will suddenly get louder. Like the scene where they were dancing in front of the coke billboard, music magically appeared making the scene more dramatic.
3. This did have some emphasis and art form, it made it seem like dancing was so important and that you have to be successful in order to make it work. This really showed when the guy and his mom saying that he has to win while he wants to do what he wants to do.
4. Same thing mentioned in answer number two, it wasn't really realistic to see people dancing to nothing then sudenlly some music starts and gets louder and louder.
5. I totally agree with fantastical realism since it based on real things but things that were added to it makes it fantastical. I did the same thing as Chance of numbered questions.
I will not lie, I was so confused in the begging of the film until like 25 minutes into the film.
ReplyDelete1. Well I feel it could be the ending to another story if Scott would of danced like he was suppose too but..... That didn't happened so I don't feel that it related to the ending before the film truly starts. This part was also what made me the most confused (even though Josh told us before that would happen).
2. There is theatrical elements in this movie, the only thing I felt that wasn't theatircal/musical was the actors themselves singing at random moments. The clearest example I can use for the theatrical approach was when President Barry was reminiscing on Scott's father. That was intentionally made to look like a theater piece.
3. The two dances used in the film were; Ballroom and Paso Doble. In the movie we saw them practice the "salsa dancing" (Paso), Scott had to perfect the dance in order for his "love" Fran to dance with him.
4. I wish I could say that the heavy makeup everybody wore, but that would be a lie. The obvious would be the intense array of colors and yellow tint added to the movie especially in the Regional Championships but I've never been to a Regional Championship before so maybe those colors are normal.
5. This film is because, it could be a real life event but it is so over-dramatized, theres your fantasy feeling.
I wonder if there really is neighborhoods that are fully of Spaniard or Latin American decent in Australia. It would be even more cool to see if there are such things as "US American" neighborhoods to foreign countries.