All That Jazz (1979) dir- Bob Fosse
What a difference 40 years makes.
I saw this in the early 80’s on cable. I was a theater kid, so the appeal was obvious. I was also a cardiac patient, so that aspect had a dark sort of draw. But it made a lasting impression. The not-quite-a-musical nature of it, the strange hallucinatory sequences w/ Jessica Lange. The DANCING, of course.
And at the center, Roy Scheider at the very tippy top of his game, exuding an irresistible charm as Bob Fosse, errr, I mean, “Joe Gideon”, a choreographer and director who is simultaneously launching a new Broadway show while editing his latest film project and generally neglecting everyone in his life, living off a diet of cigarettes, dexidrine, and meaningless sex. Tearful confessions from an ex lead not to introspection, but inspiration for a dance number.
Now, viewing it 40 years later as a 50-something, still a cardiac patient, well, it hits differently, let me tell you. Watching Gideon sabotage himself, over and over, knowing full well what he’s doing, puts thoughts of mortality and meaning in my head that I simply had no reference for as a teenager.
Dark, but not exactly bleak, and with stunning sights of dance and cinema that no other director would stage.
And yes, this is the movie that Paula Abdul ‘borrowed’ the concept from for this
