Strictly Ballroom (1992)

A feel-good fantasy with none of the negative connotations that this suggests, Strictly Ballroom will make even the meanest curmudgeon smile. Opening at "The Southern District's Waratah Championship", the dance-floor swarms with couples hoping for a trophy. A riot of colour, spins, kicks and ruffles, the most fancied pairs are Ken Railings (John Hannan) with Pam Short (Kerry Shrimpton) and Scott Hastings (Paul Mercurio) with Liz Holt (Gia Carides). However, it all goes pear-shaped during the rhumba final when Scott and Liz get boxed into a corner. The only chance of escape is via acrobatic, unconventional steps, which have the effect of freeing Scott from both the block and the restrictive rules of the ADF (Australian Dancing Federation). Unfortunately the judges don't see his crowd-pleasing manoeuvres in quite the same light, awarding first prize to Ken. It's just too much for Liz, who flees in tears.

Three days later the dust has barely settled at Les Kendall's (Peter Whitford) dance school, with Scott and Liz still arguing. Shirley Hastings (Pat Thompson), his distraught mother, fervently hopes that Scott will come to his senses and follow the rules though. His success at the coming Pan-Pacific Grand Prix is all that she's dreamt about since he was six, thus Shirley can't bear the thought of this not coming to pass. Unfortunately neither she, nor her husband Doug (Barry Otto), can persuade Scott to conform; he's simply bored with the routine and that's it. Even worse, Liz gets taken away by Ken after Pam breaks both her legs in an unfortunate accident! Hence, even if Scott wanted to perform by Barry Fife's (Bill Hunter) rules (he's the ADF President) he couldn't because there's no partner's available.

Opportunity knocks from an unexpected quarter for Scott though, in the form of gawky, unattractive Fran (Tara Morice). A mere beginner she hasn't even got a partner, yet Fran really admires Scott's ground-breaking performance and would love to dance with him (a preposterous idea under normal circumstances). Scott can't quite believe that she's even asking but when Fran stings his pride with a few well-aimed words, he just has to take her on. Unsurprisingly she's pretty clumsy, though nowhere near as bad as Scott had imagined, leading them to snatch a few hours in the evening to practice. There's no way that news of the illicit dancing can get out though, so Scott still has to plough through the charade of trials. The big problem now is time, with the State and Pan-Pacific contests looming large.

Strictly Ballroom focuses its attention on the gaudy, fantastical world of ballroom dancing and the fixated characters that live within it. To the people who use performing as a way to escape the daily grind of normality, there is nothing more important. Hence the outrage and despair which erupts when Scott apparently squanders his god-given talent on non-federation steps. The ironic part of it is that Scott doesn't particularly want to take on the establishment, he just wants the freedom to express himself and innovate (anathema to the stuffy ADF). However, because the fun has been drained out of the dance-floor by iron-clad regulations, Scott has no choice. With the classic ugly-duckling tale stirred in (the transformation of Fran), the stage is set for a delirious and fantastical dance-fest.

Absolutely central to Strictly Ballroom is the choreography and dance steps of the actors, rather than the performers themselves. So much of the action takes place when the characters are either dancing, watching it or talking about it that the cast members must be thoroughly convincing in their movements. Fortunately Mercurio and, to a lesser extent, Morice are simply great, a pleasure to watch. The scenes when Scott is being instructed by Fran's father Rico (Antonio Vargas) stand out for their passion and expression of dance as something to be lived and enjoyed, rather than as a clinical sport. The contrast with Scott's family, where trophies are all, is extreme, with Scott a definite aberration. The melodramatic acting of Thompson suits this scenario perfectly, over-the-top in the same way that ballroom dancing is.

The beginning of Strictly Ballroom sets the tone for the rest of the film brilliantly, showcasing techniques which pop-up throughout and introducing the main characters. At first all is quiet, with the dancers gliding in slow motion, then background sounds gradually seep in as the camera pulls back. From intimate close-ups, the arena and noisy crowd suddenly appears, thrusting us from the refined to the popular (a great start). Throughout the film there are fine intercuts and smooth transitions, the mark of a production which has been hammered into shape in the theatre. This is perhaps why there are so many story-lines, almost too many to cope with, which whizz by at some pace. Luckily, Strictly Ballroom is a movie which believes in itself, retaining its freshness until almost the very end (when a touch of sentimentality appears). With such a gaudy, romantic and joyous tone, it feels almost churlish to complain so, instead, just get with the beat!