It's showtime, folks!

[thehefner]

(Your reaction might well be "Is that the guy from JAWS singing with Mayor Ben from ZOOBILEE ZOO?")

So I think ALL THAT JAZZ might be a new favorite film of mine.

I've seen it three times this weekend, and I'm still not sure.



When ALL THAT JAZZ--legendary CABARET/CHICAGO choreographer/director Bob Fosse's semi-autobiographical sorta-musical wherein he kinda-accurately predicts his own death ten years later--was released, critics called it everything from, "a self-important, egomaniacal, wonderfully choreographed, often compelling film," with every good review laced with (or countered by other reviews that outright said), "As translated onto screen, [Fosse's] story is wretched: the jokes are relentlessly crass and objectionable; the song'n'dance routines have been created in the cutting-room and have lost any sense of fun; Fellini-esque moments add little but pretension; and scenes of a real open-heart operation, alternating with footage of a symbolic Angel of Death in veil and white gloves, fail even in terms of the surreal."

They're not entirely wrong. At least, they weren't back in 1979. But speaking as someone who first saw it last Friday (and a bit drunk at the time, if that matters), I think two things really make this film work in a different and stronger light:

The deaths of both Fosse and Roy Scheider.

The reason I saw ALL THAT JAZZ in the first place was due to CHUD.com's wonderful eulogy, which ended with the film's ten-minute finale. Not having seen the film, that finale had a very different impact when put in context of celebrating the underappreciated career of Scheider (a relic from a better era when a character actor could be a leading man). My reaction at the final duet with Ben Vereen went from, "Okay, so this is the most 70's-tastic thing I've ever seen," to "Holy shit, Roy Scheider is sparkly and singing. He looks like the glam rock Don Quixote," to "hey, this is pretty damn great! I mean, in its own way," to the last five seconds: "... oh fuck."

So after that punch-in-the-gut ending in mind, I had to see the whole film. When I had finished it and gotten to that ending again, I immediately thought, "Uh... okay, I need to see this again, when sober." So about 24 hours later, I did watch it again, sober, after which I thought, "Uh... okay, I need to show this to fishymcb). So another 24 hours pass, and I do indeed show it to Kevin, whose reaction was, "What a bizarre goddamn movie!"

So I've now seen ALL THAT JAZZ more often than any straight/non-Broadway male probably ever has, and I'm still not sure what to think of it. And the film is so packed-to-the-brim, I kept noticing new things every time. So let me try bullet points:

--Roy Scheider already looks like hell.

--Bob Fosse: hard-drinking, pill-popping, eye-dropping, womanizing, pimp-tastic choreographer. And at this point, he's banging both Ann Reinking and Jessica Lange. Damn!

--*shudder* Cattle call auditions. Good to know they're just as lousy and dehumanizing for dancers as they are for actors.

--Every scene with Jessica Lange as the Angel of Death made me wince. Those were easily the most pretentious scenes in the film.

--Every scene with the daughter was utterly excellent, especially the dance lesson. That scene in particular was rich with subtext and unspoken emotions.

--Ann Reinking is just dazzling.

--Leland Palmer (not Ray Wise) is kinda scary in her Broadway-ish let's-put-on-a-fucking-show!-intensity, and her Port Washington accent (she sounds like a New Yorker with a dash of Emo Phillips) is really odd, but I think it works. Especially for the nightmarish hospital hallucinations.

--Isn't this meant to be a musical? Where are the musical numbers? THE WICKER MAN (1973) was more of a musical than this. This wouldn't even work on stage.

--The "dance orgy" scene was simultaneously stunning, brilliant, pretentious, the gayest thing since gay came to gaytown, not gay but just an all-sex fleshfest of form and boobs, and it might work better if taken as a satire (Kevin: "He's turning it into a Phillip Glass avant-garde ballet?).

--No one does slimy smug pompousness better than John "doughboy" Lithgow. Seriously, John, that turtleneck makes you look like your head is melting into your body.

--Hey, the mayor from GHOSTBUSTERS! Hey, CCH Pounder, with her original Guyana accent! Hey, Wallace Shawn, with three of his original hairs!

--Oh my God, the Dad from ALF is actually Joe Lieberman. Why was I not informed?

--Holy crap, I don't think that open-heart surgery footage is faked. Wow, Fosse is almost literally opening up his heart to the audience.

--This is Roy Scheider's greatest performance. But you wouldn't notice it, because he utterly vanishes into Fosse. It's that double-edged sword kind of brilliant performance, where it only looks effortless and casual, that people don't realize the level of brilliance they're seeing at work.

--I've never seen a Fellini movie. Maybe I need to, so I can better understand what's going on here.

--Roy's singing voice is no match for Ben Vereen's. Nor does it need to be.

--If you can get past or embrace the 70's-ness of this ending, the utter glam-mee-tastic nature of this whole finale, holy crap, it's fucking amazing.

--The whole last ten minutes make the entire film.

--Is this film a celebration or a condemnation? Or both? Can it be both?

--Call me crazy, but I sort of feel the way I do after I see a great production of KING LEAR: moved, touched, disturbed, and chilled.

I guess if I had to sum up ALL THAT JAZZ, it's sort of what happens when overblown ego, burning self-loathing, and blinding brilliance get coked up together, go see a Fellini film, dip into Studio 54 for a bit more coke, and then put on a Broadway extravaganza. Shit, no, even that doesn't quite describe it!

Has anyone else seen ALL THAT JAZZ? Either in recent memory or back when it came out? Any input or thoughts?

I think I need to see it again. I think I'm gonna need a "It's showtime, folks!" icon. I think I'm gonna die.

Comments

[chickenhat.livejournal.com]

And the old actor/director looks over,
"What are you new?"

Oh, right, in a relative sense you are.

Imagine being 12, Star Wars and Jaws were only 2 years previous, seeing that there's this new film about dance, jazz, theatre... not even knowing that you'd be a theatre major one day. Not knowing who Fosse was and not really caring. Oh yeah, and it's rated R so you have to talk your dad, a lecturer and teacher at catholic Sunday school, into taking you to see it. (To be fair, my dad is pretty damn wise and I think taking me to see "art films" was a relief to him. Hang the ratings system, this is why you go with your kids so they can ask questions later on.)

Changed my frickin' life, man. (And I've seen it a bunch of times, although not in whole for a while now, and never while drunk.)

And I'm kinda sorry it took you this long to get around to seeing it.

Oh, and for more edumacation, put Fellini Satyricon and La Strada on your Netflix list.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

My precociousness only got me so far. I still have a ways to catch up in other respects. Shit, dude, I hadn't even seen a single ROCKY or RAMBO film until this past year.

I've heard "it changed my life" applied to this film a good deal, and I absolutely understand why. At the same time, I can see why others might see this as dated/pretentious/flaming/egocentric/wankery/etc. I can't exactly show this film to just anyone, y'know?

[kali921.livejournal.com]

Yes, the film is excellent - I've seen it four times. You're just now discovering Bob Fosse? Dude, you're behind!

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Now now, where did I say that?

Ma took me to New York to see CHICAGO with Bebe Neuwirth and Joel Grey, and CABARET with the original Alan Cumming production.

I'm hip, babe. Never doubt it!

[sharrainchains.livejournal.com]

I loved this movie, but it was so profoundly moving and disturbing that (as with Cabaret) I haven't been able to watch it again - in over 20 years! That said, I can remember so many of the lines and lyrics - I even face myself myself in the mirror occasionally, uttering "It's showtime, folks!"

Your recent posts may have inspired me to try again. Thank you.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

One critic described it as a horror movie (akin to another horrific non-horror film to come out that same year, APOCALYPSE NOW). I personally wasn't affected that way, and Ma seriously disagrees, but it's fascinating how many are.

Yes, certainly do! I'd be interested to hear how it holds up today!

[cisic.livejournal.com]

I can't believe you are just seeing this movie. It's pretty much legendary. I was a kid when I first saw it, with my parents. They are responsible for my artsy education, making sure I saw movies like All That Jazz, White Nights, An American in Paris, etc.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

I've devoted so much of my life to seeing obscure or underappreciated films (in an effort to rescue them from obscurity and spread the love) that I often miss out on the classics. Like, hey, I'm still the only kid on my block (so to speak) who's seen THE ICEMAN COMETH with Jason Robards!

[reazik.livejournal.com]

Believe it or not, I saw the movie when it came out. I was about 9 or 10. My mom didn't think that the reasons it was rated R would affect me in any way.

I hate to say it, but the biggest impression I got from the first time seeing it was, that lady is naked on top!

However, on subsequent viewings, I really appreciated the whole air of the movie - the fact that you were never sure if it was reality or fantasy, the fact that the acting is brilliant, the fact that the music - whether or not you knew about Fosse - is almost intoxicating.

It's definitely still a movie worth seeing.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

It's definitely one I'm planning to rewatch a great deal.

[gore-whore-5.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love ALL THAT JAZZ. I hadn't heard until now that Roy Scheider is dead. That's too damn depressing. I have to watch that movie again. It always makes me cry.

My dad jokes that that movie saved his life. It's a weird story. I'll tell you sometime later.

As for a Fellini film, the only one I've seen is 8 1/2. You have to be in the right mood to see it (it's long, slow, and European) and it's hard to keep track of all the women, but during the second viewing, it all becomes much clearer. Essentially, it's about nothing. An important film director (here's the semi-autobiographical part) loses his creative flow and has a mid-life crisis. There are swarms of women, bizarre flashback scenes, and symbolism like crazy. Not so flashy and 70s, but it's damn similar. I never realized that until you pointed it out. Thank you!

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Wow, you love it? That's awesome and surprising! Gives me hope that I might be able to share it with others.

[fiveseconddelay.livejournal.com]

It's one of Lane's Top 10.

Wasn't the dance orgy redone in Paula Abdul's 1989 "Cold Blooded Snake" video?

He's FLIRTING WITH DEATH. It's a METAPHOR. GET IT?!

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

I don't know, and I don't even want to youtube it.

And yes. Thus why it's my least favorite part of the film. Oy.