All That Jazz
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jessica LangeBrand: Fox
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 123 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-08-19
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of All That Jazz
Movie Review: A challenging but classic melding of two genres
Summary: 5 Stars
Brilliant and reckless, self indulgent and obsessive, Bob Fosse's self destructive masterpiece of a semi-autobiography fuses the genres of the musical and the horror film in a flame of black magic. ALL THAT JAZZ, while far from perfect, demands viewing if for no other reason than it holds no punches while it stares its subject bluntly in the face. And the face in this case is none other than one of the maddest geniuses the American Theatre ever produced- the choreographer enfant terrible- Bob Fosse.
Webster's Dictionary presents these definitions of the word "horror:
- intense aversion or repugnance
-a state of extreme depression or apprehension
- and as an adjective- calculated to inspire feelings of dread
ALL THAT JAZZ inspires all those feelings as it intoxicates, infuriates (the steaming and sexy airline number is so overlong- but that is the point!) and wallows in the grotesque, while offering not a single apology along the way.
Fosse dares to take his audience deep into his soul and stare it down with unstinting rage against Dylan Thomas' "dying of the light". His cinematic alter-ego "Joe Gideon" (expertly played by Roy Schieder- a good actor absolutely brilliant here) is a egomaniacal pig. He uses, abuses and discards all around him- including his very soul. His devotion to "show business" and art is singular. Fosse captures the Everests and Canyons of the creative mind. But he does not romanticize or glorify the mercurial creative muse. He is too intelligent an artist for that. The creative genius can be a deal with the devil and Gideon (and Fosse?) eagerly signs his life away.
The dance numbers are magnificent- filled with Fosse's unique style of movement. The much vaunted opening "Cattle Call" sequence is a brilliant example of editing and color. The climatic "Bye-Bye Life" number in which Fosse morbidly films his own death deftly induces both euphoria and repulsion. Fosse's perfection and sense of rhythm intoxicates and seduces as we weaves beautiful bodies in and out of the frame. His choreography celebrates the venal and the holy in a marriage between the organic and the technically precise. There will never be another like him.
Yes, the film is dark. A cautionary tale to be sure. This a unique film that is not only a musical drama, but a horror film- a horror film where the monster is the creator himself.
Historically speaking, it is fascinating that ALL THAT JAZZ came out the same year as that other mad masterpiece- APOCALYPSE NOW (also a true horror film). In man ways ALL THAT JAZZ is the musical version of APOCALYPSE NOW.
Maybe not for all tastes, but a genuine work of art worthy of repeated viewings and analysis.
Summary of All That Jazz
Part tragic, part comic, this outrageous look at life in the fast lane in the Academy Award-winning musical about Bob Fosse's excessive life in show business. Played by Roy Scheider, Fosse's alter-ego drives himself over the edge and soon finds he is caught between a recurring fantasy about his death and the reality of a near-death experience. Dazzlingly presented, this electrifying story about the perils of pushing yourself too hard is filled with Fosse's legendary song-and-dance choreography.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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