Joe Gideon, a brilliant Broadway choreographer and Hollywood director lives a fast-paced life where he has little room for anyone else. While his latest film has run substantially over budget, Joe's latest Broadway play is a few months from opening, leaving Gideon feeling pressure from everyone around him. Balancing his artistic endeavors, his ex-wife, his girlfriend, and his daughter, Joe is slowly wearing down, only finding solace in the amphetimines. Eventually Joe's physical body completely whithers, with Joe facing open-heart surgery due to his chain-smoking, drug-using, borderline nymphomaniac behavior. Bob Fosse's All That Jazz is a deeply personal, expertly crafted expose of show business and self-indulgence. Joe Gideon is a character bound by ego, an auteur who is striving for perfection and All That Jazz explores how little room that leaves for empathy in his life. This is not a man that is a very likeable character but one that by the end of the film the viewer comes to respect. All That Jazz is a personal film, like Fossi is spilling out his soul on screen in the form of Joe Gideon, seeking penance for everything he neglected while focusing on his craft. Roy Scheider gives the performance of his career as Joe Gideon, bringing energy and nuance to a neglectful character that shows moments of empathy and love. From a technical standpoint All That Jazz is a masterpiece, with dynamic quick-twitch editing that captures Joe's frantic lifestyle offering a glimpse of his current mindset. The editing is extremely well thoughout, with the scene where it becomes apparent Joe must be rushed to the hospital being show in almost slow motion, capturing Joe's body forcing him to slow down. The cinematography is equally impressive, with kinetic camera movements and expressionistic compositions. One of my favorite sequences in the film is after Joe has been hospitalized, with the play's main financiervisiting another choreographer. The scene opens with a composition that has a bar running vertically through the middle of the frame representing how these two men are not in business together. As they discuss plans that make it clear this man would take over the play in the event of joe's death, the composition, through slow motion, removes the barrier from the equation. Featuring beautifully choreography and impressionistic lighting, Bob Fosse's All That Jazz is a energetic exploration of a self-indulgent man which is full of both style and substance.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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