Flashdance

FLASHDANCE (15)

D: Adrian Lyne

Paramount (Don Simpson & Jerry Bruckheimer)

USA 🇺🇸 1983

98 mins

Drama/Musical/Romance

W: Joe Eszterhas & Tom Hedley

DP: Donald Peterman

Ed: Bud Smith & Walt Mulconery

Mus: Giorgio Moroder

Jennifer Beals (Alex Owens), Michael Nouri (Nick Hurley), Lilia Skala (Hanna Long), Sunny Johnson (Jeanie Szabo), Kyle T. Hefner (Richie Plasic), Belinda Bauer (Katie Hurley)

It's easy to get sentimental about films like this. It's hailed as an 80's classic and was a huge success at the time, especially on home video and helped to launch the careers of producers Jerry Bruckheimer & Don Simpson, but the narrative practically plays out like a series of lengthy music videos.

A welder by day, a budding dancer plies her talents at night in a seedy nightclub, but eventually her dreams are realised... But only after she develops a sexual relationship with the boss.

Enjoyable for it's dance choreography, utilising great photography and slick editing, it's easy to get caught up in the toe-tapping despite the popcorn storyline with a ridiculous central message: sleep with your boss and the world's your oyster.

Jennifer Beals tries to deliver humanity to a rather boring character, but it's an uphill struggle with a screenplay which is so, so bad. The finest qualities the film has is with it's quick-fire editing and brilliant cinematography by Donald Peterman, who performs some technical wizardry in making the choreographed dance scenes even more exciting, as well as masking the body & stunt doubles from the actual performers. It's easy to take things like this for granted, but it has to be said that Peterman's work makes the movie far much more watchable.

The film's success is almost certainly due to being released at the right time, when it could capitalise on the rising popularity of MTV and pop music.

6/10