All That Jazz dvd movie.|
All That Jazz buy bestselling dvd movies, videos find reviews, ratings, prices |
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List Price: $9.98 Features • Color • DVD-Video • Widescreen • NTSC In Theaters : 1979 DVD Release : 19 August, 2003 |
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All That Jazz description Choreographer-turned-director Bob Fosse (Cabaret, Lenny) turns the camera on himself in this nervy, sometimes unnerving 1979 feature, a nakedly autobiographical piece that veers from gritty drama to razzle-dazzle musical, allegory to satire. It's an indication of his bravura, and possibly his self-absorption, that Fosse (who also cowrote the script) literally opens alter ego Joe Gideon's heart in a key scene--an unflinching glimpse of cardiac surgery, shot during an actual open-heart procedure. Roy Scheider makes a brave and largely successful leap out of his usual romantic lead roles to step into Gideon's dancing pumps, and supplies a plausible sketch of an extravagant, self-destructive, self-loathing creative dynamo, while Jessica Lange serves as a largely allegorical Muse, one of the various women that the philandering Gideon pursues (and usually abandons). Gideon's other romantic partners include Fosse's own protégé (and a major keeper of his choreographic style since his death), Ann Reinking, whose leggy grace is seductive both "onstage" and off. Fosse/Gideon's collision course with mortality, as well as his priapic obsession with the opposite sex, may offer clues into the libidinal core of the choreographer's dynamic, sexualized style of dance, but musical aficionados will be forgiven for fast-forwarding to cut out the self-analysis and focus on the music, period. At its best--as in the knockout opening, scored to George Benson's strutting version of "On Broadway," which fuses music, dance, and dazzling camera work into a paean to Fosse's hoofer nation--All That Jazz offers a sequence of classic Fosse numbers, hard-edged, caustic, and joyously physical. --Sam Sutherland |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | Intriguing doppelganger backstory; talent-drenched, mesmerizing dance numbers |
| By directing and choreographing his own death within this 1979 musical filled with superlative dance, Bob Fosse took the Palme d'Or at Cannes, four Oscars and five Oscar nods.
Fosse survived a 1975 massive heart attack and hospitalization, brought on by his substance abuse and stress-driven approach to crafting Broadway production. At the time, Fosse was simultaneously producing "Chicago" on stage and cutting the film "Lenny." The experience left Fosse (played here by Roy Schneider at the top of his game) with inspiration for this autobiopic and highly choreographed re-creation of the personal and professional events leading to his brush with the Grim Reaper (Lange). The film is labeled semi-autobiographical - since no real names are employed - but it's autobiographical to the core. Schneider couldn't have missed his marks - with Fosse sitting in the wings directing him. Fosse's mistress, acted by Ann Reinking, was in fact Fosse's mistress at the time. (Fosse made her audition, nonetheless.) Fosse directs himself flirting and jousting with Death; it probably came easy given he'd also had an affair with Lange. Most of the other characters and content are also historically based. Fosse's vehicle successfully directs his own death into a crescendo of admiration and sympathy, an opportunity unafforded most anyone else. Eight years after this film, Fosse simply sat down on a park bench and let another heart attack take his life in far quieter fashion. Aside from this intriguing doppelganger backstory, the film entertains through its saturation with highly stylized, provocative and talent-drenched dance numbers. Fosse had a penchant for choreography with a sexual seasoning as well as odd juxtapositioning of dancers' limbs and joints - a penchant fully on display here. The film also leaves the viewer with a sympathy for the ruthless business of Broadway - and for those obsessively driven talents that create the stage. If you've ever sat down in a theater wanting to be properly entertained by rousing song and dance, then this film will likely do the job for you. |
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