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Summary: best musical
Review: the best possible biography of an artist/human/father/. Only a parent could understand the most important message of this film, life is what we make of it.
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Summary: I'll take that with ear-plugs, thanks.
Review: In his 1970 masterpiece, 'Cabaret', Bob Fosse evoked in his atmosphere, his style and his attitude the works of playwright Bertolt Brecht (with his one-time musical partner Kurt Weill) to recreate the pre-Nazi world of Weimar Germany. This influence was superficial - unlike Brechtian drama, character, location and narrative progression in 'Cabaret' remained coherent and consistent, the illusion of a fictional world complete (the musical's most Brechtian role, the MC, was significantly reduced in the film).In 'All That Jazz', Fosse's autobiographical mea culpa, he tries to give his work a Brechtian form. The narrative arc - Roy Schneider, a hugely successful Broadway producer and film director, and Jessica Lange, part-Bride of Death, part-confessor angel, sit in a darkened, ethereal dressing room among the debris of his life, which they look back on: the failed marriages, the relationship with his daughter; the compulsive womanising; the drugs; the insane working methods, their supposely way-out genius not quite outweighing the humiliating of inferiors, the dependence on conservative financial backers or the potty moments of 'inspiration' (including a risible set-piece choreographing an orgy) - is broken down into looping repetitive fragments, supposedly representing the mental deterioration of the main character. As Brecht decreed, the viewer is consistently alienated from what s/he sees on screen, asked to acknowledge the mechanical process that goes into making films that mainstream films try to hide. Fantasies, dreams, flashbacks, hallucinations and memories constitute the film's reality, which never leaves its main character's head. Rapid editing; garish mise-en-scene; loud, cluttered, frenetic compositions; disorienting camera angles; jazz-like structural repetitions and attempts at so-called 'improvisation'. But where Brecht wanted the spectator to think and become politically active, Fosse enervates and harangues. This wouldn't matter if the musical numbers were spectacular, but with the exception of the hospital hallucination sequence recalling the pastiche Busby Berkeley/Ziegfeld Follies aesthetic he pioneered, these are ruined in the tricksy filming, or by their downbeat, shabby, 'modern' treatment. There is nothing wrong a director taking himself as a subject - filmmakers as important as Welles, Bergman and Godard created new possibilities for the cinema by doing so. But their introspection never destroyed the credibility or integrity of their filmic worlds - Charles Foster Kane or Hank Quinlan may reveal aspects of Welles, but these are independent, developed characters interacting with other characters, a narrative and an environment. There is no other reality in 'Jazz' than that created by Schneider - every character, scene and place exists solely to comment on or reveal his neuroses. Even a film as solipsistic as 'Vertigo' allowed the viewer space away from the central consciousness. Here, as in the Fellini films that were clearly Fosse's inspiration, we suffocate in an airless carnival of ego.
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Summary: All That Jazz is Classic Fosse
Review: All That Jazz is not yet out on DVD. I am hoping that, after seeing "Fosse" on PBS that more people will demand it. It is Fosse at his best, and one of the few places that non-New York theater goers can see Fosse's work. Ben Vereen is terrific (a great humanitarian, and a personal friend of mine, ha), Scheider seems to have the Fosse attitude down, and all the suporting cast is phenomenal. Send in your vote for this to be put out on DVD!
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Summary: Self indulgent, strange - and the performance of a lifetime
Review: It's self indulgent, obsessive, strange... and all the better for it. It still amazes me that such a personal film managed to win 4 Oscars, it's the sort of thing the Academy usually ignores. Just watch the opening "cattle call" audition to see how it got its editing Oscar. The 5th award it should have got: best actor. This is the performance of a lifetime from Roy Scheider. A must for Fosse fans (but we all know that): it could be a struggle for those with little interest in musical theatre. (Review based on VHS, which is wearing out waiting for DVD)
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Summary: True Auteur
Review: I once and still do lump this film into a group of three: Fellini's 8 1/2, Woody Allen's Manhatten, and Fosse's All That Jazz. (It was nice to read that a reputable reviewer agrees.) As one who fully embraces the French "auteur theory" of filmaking, I'm pulled toward autobiographical films, of which all three qualify. I also feel strongly that cinematic musicals are the ultimate form of entertainment because of the logistical difficulties of combining so many artistic expressions into one medium. Well, All That Jazz is an auteur musical--and that's hard to beat. It is simply one of the best films ever made. That it combines the complex inner workings of a struggling artist who turns pain into gain as a contribution to the world and does so with great music, sexy women, a tear-jerking father/daughter relationship, a dozen or so revealing observations of life itself, razzle dazzle, and great dancing choreographed by the best American choreographer...quite simply--buy it, watch it and if you don't agree with me, then you're probably dead.
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Summary: As help for the exact Vivaldi's Concert
Review: For those who asked about Vivaldi's Concert for Strings and Harpsichord, 'Alla Rustica'
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Summary: All That Jazz
Review: The best autobriographical musicals ever.... complex, funny, black humor, great dancing, self-analysis, etc. Terrific. Underrated from day one.
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Summary: An Excellent Film!
Review: i came across this film by accident. in a biography of Stanley Kubrick he expressed high regard for Fosse's films, so i checked it out. OUTSTANDING! "All That Jazz" is everything good filmmaking should be. besides being brilliantly allegorical, it's a fascinating view of just how hard dancers work. considering the junk in movie theaters now, this film illustrates what a loss we suffered with Bob Fosse's (and Stanley Kubrick's) death.
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Summary: Weird, Funny, Comical, and Musical all in one!
Review: Bob Fosse IS a genius! This movie might seem a little strange at first, but you have to see it a couple times until you can grasp the whole concept of the film. The costumes are awesome! This is not your traditional musical! It's very different. I would suggest watching 'Cabaret' first, then watch 'All That Jazz'. This is not technically Bob Fosse's autobiography. Joe Gideon is more like Fosse's alter-ego, becuse Gideon dies in the end, for thoes would couldn't figure it out. This is a good movie, it has good cinematography and good musical numbers- give it a chance!
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Summary: ALL THAT JAZZ
Review: I'M USUALLY NOT ONE FOR MUSICALS BUT INDEED , AS PATER ONCE SAID, "ALL ART ASPIRES TO THE CONDITION OF MUSIC." FOSSE UNFOLDS THE FREUDIAN "DEATH WISH" OF A MAN WHOSE LOVE WAS SUBLIME DECADENCE. MELONCHOLY LAUGHTER ACCOMPANIES YOU THROUGH A VISION OF A GUY WHO TRULY APPRICIATES THE BEAUTY AND IRONY OF THE HUMAN CONDITION. THIS MOVIE HAS A HOLISTIC PHILOSOPHY THAT CAN ONLY BE REVIELED BY DELVING BELOW THE SURFACE WITH SEQUENCES OF FANTASY AND CONVERSATIONS WITH LOVELY DEATH. SCENES CUT BACK AND FORTH COMFORTABLY ILLUSTRATING LAYERS OF THE CHARACTER'S PSYCHE. THIS STYLE WILL BE GREATLY APPRICIATED BY FANS OF OLIVER STONE. SOME COULD ARGUE THAT FOSSE IS FAR MORE ACCESSIBLE, AND LESS OBSCURE THAN STONE. ALSO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET THAT HEAVY THINKING FEELING THEN THE MOVIE ON THE SURFACE IS STILL EMMENCLY FUN, GOOFY...AN ABSOLUTE FOOT-STOMPING HOOT. IT'S JUST WHEN YOUR ROLLING ALONG YOUR FOURTH WATCHING YOU'LL FIND YOURSELF SAYING, "MY GOD! THIS IS BRILLIANT." YOU'LL NEVER HAVE MORE FUN REFLECTING ON PRECIOUS LIFE.
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