Yay! In the late night hours, we got around to watching the one I voted most for! (See also Jaeger's results chart, although it probably won't be visible for most of the world until next week.)

Since this was the only Baz Luhrmann film I hadn't yet seen, I jumped at it when I saw it in one of the piles of films that were brought to the fest. (It's been on my non-existent "list" for a long time now.) Some reviews I had read on earlier occassions warned that one shouldn't expect this earlier work to be as overwhelmingly magnificant as Moulin Rouge, so I tried not to get my hopes up too high. As a result, I had a very enjoyable viewing experience.

A meta-note on style. The first 10 minutes of every Luhrmann film to date have put my head into a spin, due simply to the sheer outrageousness of some aspect of the filming style. (For Moulin Rouge, it was the use of music and hyper-ramped-up cinematics; Romeo and Juliet, the ancient dialog superimposed within modern context; Strickly Ballroom, the clothing, colors, and sensationalized character portrayals.)

Laugh, shake your head, or blink. But then, somehow, as the shock sinks in, you find yourself strangely at ease in the artificial landscape, and truly starting to care about the characters, despite the over-the-top unrealisticness of it all. Once the hook is in, there's no going back. You will take the journey to the end, and you will revel in every minute of it.

In the world of Strickly Ballroom, where dance is everything -- both a metaphor for and an embodiment of life itself -- the floor is ruled by an oligarchy of traditionalists. They make the rules. They judge the contests. They are the ultimate authority on what the "right" steps shall be; these "right" steps have been handed down in an ossified format for generations.

The movie opens by informing us, using a humorously dramatic faux documentary method, that a shocking occurrance has just taken place: The most talented dancer in the contest, in a fit of unheard of insanity, has broken from the script and (gasp!) performed steps he made up himself.

The remainder of the film (i.e. all of it) is about the aftermath and fallout resulting from this deviance from proper form. Naturally, it includes much romance, some fascinating plot revelations, a few heavily embellished dramatic vignettes, and many beautifully choreographed dance scenes.

Genius.

Sentamentalist that I am, I had to fight back tears at a couple of moments. The ending was pure joy; Hollywood style, yet still unique in its own way.

I'm glad we watched this one. Yen another worthy stop on the festing train.