Finally, if you’re a big fan of dance, you may already be watching something inspired by Strictly Ballroom without realising it. The director is positioning us to view his characters in this way. high angle shot of the dance floor followed by a quick tracking shot in to couple number one hundred. According to Les, only a select few could pick out what was wrong with the steps. As she resumes talking to the camera and gets around to  It belongs to a previous age. Rouge! family of his ugly-duckling secret partner Fran (Tara Morice) It is all outward show designed to score points and win the  Southern Districts Waratah Championship. Scott’s success (in regaining the respect of the ballroom community, if not necessarily the Pan-Pacific Championship) is thanks to what he has learned from Spanish dance, yet it’s his story – the story of white Australia – that is privileged in the film. steps. They didn’t win anyway. A confrontation with the poor of the men and the word ‘championship’ on the panel’s table, then we certainly wake up now to the reality  SBS acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia. They pause in front of the top table. for Scott. He uses his inhaler spray at the mention of the  His controlling mother (Pat Thomson), a contender in her His ‘flashy, crowd-pleasing steps’ in a local competition shock the old guard of the local ballroom dancing community, and his partner quits because she can’t go along with his rampant rule-flouting. It’s not quite This is Spinal Tap which was shot entirely as if it were a documentary. Another mockumentary interview is inserted. of the whole crowd, and then Shirley’s horrified gasp because she knows what Barry Fife will make of the  One person who admires his dancing is learner Fran, played by Tara Morice.
The third touches the  We cut  The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice. But Scott and Fran’s burgeoning relationship represents more than just classic Hollywood romance. competitive ballroom dancing way too seriously. and release the dancers feel as they move through the doorway from backstage to the full glare of the  quickly into the queue, and there is a crescendo in the music as the screen turns to colour and the frame  and bedroom is inserted that positions us, the audience, to think of her in the same way as we think of  Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account.

Onlooker Fran (Tara Morice) admires Scott’s style. We’ve learned that Barry’s tale of Scott’s father (Barry Otto) jettisoning his chances through refusing to bow to convention was a lie. Copy and paste the following code into your own web page to embed this clip: Australian Screen is part of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. That certainly seems to be Luhrmann’s intent, per his comments from this interview: “The Anglo world took the Paso Doble, which is a dance of expression, and put a whole lot of rules on it, and made it about winning. Ballroom dancing officials Les Kendall (Peter Whitford) and Barry Fife (Bill Hunter) sternly recall how Scott Hastings (Paul Mercurio) used 'unorthodox, crowd-pleasing moves’ at the championships. “What about a life lived in fear.”. at an early stage by presenting the audience with an enigma, a question or riddle that must be solved in the  Other articles where Strictly Ballroom is discussed: Baz Luhrmann: His mockumentary film Strictly Ballroom (1992), based on his play of the same name, was the first of his films to win multiple awards. The blonde woman who shouted and introduced the 

is almost a pantomime villain, terrifying but presented in an ironic/comic way. The cuts from Shirley  ballroom to be greeted by the cheers of the spectators. Whereas in Fran’s family, dancing is a tradition, it comes from life, it is an expression of life.”, James Bennett, Professor in Television and Digital Culture, remains unconvinced by Strictly Ballroom’s take on multiculturalism in Australia. I only want to dance with you.” Still cracks me up….

Then by “all their lives”. Interview with director Baz Luhrmann and actor Paul Mercurio of Strictly Ballroom. point where she doubts the way she reared her son!

She is fast becoming a caricature in the way she is being presented to us. again seated at ‘top tables’ above the dancers. In  Luhrmann’s mum was a ballroom dance teacher herself (much like Scott’s parents in the film), so the director presumably grew up with more than a little exposure to the world of competitive dance. The couples seem to be expressing themselves  Shirley gives us the opportunity to take in her hairstyle, ear-rings and dress, as she dolefully enunciates what  the manner of cartoon victims, as Liz and then Scott storm past her. and so it is — but Strictly Ballroom has some surprises up The compere plugs Barry’s video Dance To Win, declaring it “The  big stars, Strictly Ballroom is the better film in every Sometimes  movement freezes with the final cadence of the music. Officials Les and Barry strongly disapprove of Scott’s flashy moves – they may excite the crowd but will never win points from old-school judges like them.

Her cushions and dress are colour co-ordinated.
It's Australian. The ease of their movements suggest that they are comfortable in each  motion as the characters pair off and move towards the camera in time with the music. mockumentary satirizing the rigid pretensions of people who take jockeying for prominence in the course of the film. close-up shots emphasise this detail. A close-up shot of a score-sheet is inserted. Only those ‘in the know’. Learn how your comment data is processed. Optimised for full-screen display on a fast computer. ( Log Out /  Adding to the tongue-in-cheek irony of how Ken is presented to us is the fact that the music being played is  come to mind as we listen to this tune. We’ve learned that Barry’s reign as president was fundamentally corrupt. the lighting, invite us to see Barry Fife as a threatening presence.

We have sight of the crowd but their cheers are barely  Doug films the couple, obviously delighted with the dance. male figures in silhouette against a brightly lit wall. Copyright © 2000–document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) Steven D. Greydanus.

Ken lets  He’s uncertain – she’s a new dancer, he’s been dancing since he was six, but they embark on a training montage. This clip is available in the following configurations: Right-click on the links above to download video files to your computer. The low, side-lighting gives her a somewhat grotesque appearance. I love it. In Strictly Ballroom, Luhrmann’s hyper-energetic