Strictly Ballroom (1992)
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A frustrated ballroom dancer attempts to break the status quo of the competitive dance world with his own innovative style.
The story
Scott Hastings, the son of a family of ballroom dancers, has been training since the age of six to win the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dancing Championship. However, his innovative and flashy 'crowd-pleasing' steps are denounced by the head of the Australian Dancing Federation as not being 'strictly ballroom.' After his initial partner leaves him to team up with a different dancer, Scott is left alone with only three weeks until the championships. His mother begins a desperate hunt for a new partner, while Scott is approached by Fran, an overlooked 'beginner' dancer who is intrigued by his willingness to dance his own way.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Scott Hastings, a ballroom dancer, struggles to win the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dancing Championship because his innovative style is rejected by the conservative Australian Dancing Federation. After his first partner, Liz, leaves him for the reigning champion, Scott's mother, Shirley, helps him find a new partner. He eventually teams up with Fran, a beginner. However, the Federation head, Barry Fife, tries to sabotage them by arranging for Scott to dance with the champion Tina Sparkle. After a series of misunderstandings and emotional hurdles, Scott and Fran eventually train together with Fran's family. Fife attempts to manipulate Scott into returning to traditional 'strictly ballroom' style by using Scott's father's past failures against him. During the competition, Scott's father reveals that Fife had lied about his past. Scott and Fran make a dramatic entrance, performing a Paso Doble that rivets the audience. Despite Fife's attempts to disqualify them by sabotaging the sound system, the audience and several allies help them continue. Scott and Fran's spirited performance wins over the crowd, and the film ends with them kissing as the audience joins the dancers on the floor.
- First release year
- 1992
- Runtime (minutes)
- 94
- Production countries
- Australia
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Baz Luhrmann
- Writers
- Baz Luhrmann · screenplay; Craig Pearce · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Paul Mercurio · Scott Hastings; Tara Morice · Fran (Francisca); Bill Hunter · Barry Fife; Pat Thomson · Shirley Hastings, Scott’s mother; Gia Carides · Liz Holt; Peter Whitford · Les Kendall, Scott’s coach; Barry Otto · Doug Hastings, Scott’s father and Shirley's husband; Sonia Kruger · Tina Sparkle
- Genres
- romantic comedy; drama
- Themes
- artistic repression; underdogs battling against the odds
- Tone and mood
- romantic; comedy; drama; musical
- Premise and plot tags
- dance competition; underdog story; musical
- Source material / true-story basis
- a stage play
- Franchise connections
- Red Curtain Trilogy
- Reception
- The film received generally favorable reviews, though it was polarizing among critics. It was a major hit at the Cannes Film Festival and became one of the most successful Australian films of all time, despite some negative reviews from specific critics.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 72 · scale: 100 · review count: 16
- Awards and nominations
- People's Choice Award · Toronto International Film Festival · win; Most Popular Film · Vancouver International Film Festival · win
- Production trivia
- The film was developed from an original short play of the same name.; The film has become a staple of pop culture, being referenced in various media worldwide.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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