...here she is in what might be the most astonishingly beautiful dance sequence ever committed to film (the only other one that I think I might like more is "Cool," from West Side Story).
This is "Airotica," from 1979's All That Jazz. Now, you're all adults, right? So I don't need to mention to anyone that this very sexy clip has nudity in it, okay?
For those of you who haven't seen All That Jazz, directed by Bob Fosse, watch it as soon as you can get a copy. It's marvelous. Do I really need to rant against The Academy in its failure to give Roy Scheider an Oscar for his heartbreaking, infuriating, and often hilarious portayal of Joe Gideon, a thinly veiled take on Bob Fosse himself?
One more thing: I think Sandahl Bergman has quite literally the perfect body here. Ah, well, she is a fitness expert, after all. But still, those legs! (Life is so damned unfair.)
This is "Airotica," from 1979's All That Jazz. Now, you're all adults, right? So I don't need to mention to anyone that this very sexy clip has nudity in it, okay?
For those of you who haven't seen All That Jazz, directed by Bob Fosse, watch it as soon as you can get a copy. It's marvelous. Do I really need to rant against The Academy in its failure to give Roy Scheider an Oscar for his heartbreaking, infuriating, and often hilarious portayal of Joe Gideon, a thinly veiled take on Bob Fosse himself?
One more thing: I think Sandahl Bergman has quite literally the perfect body here. Ah, well, she is a fitness expert, after all. But still, those legs! (Life is so damned unfair.)
I completely agree about this masterpiece of a film. I can't believe Kramer Versus Kramer won everything that year. It was the weakest film selected. This, Breaking Away, and Norma Rae were all far better. All That Jazz is one of the rare films to blend experimental drama, musical, dance into a unified whole. This number in particular number ranks as one of THE great musical numbers in Hollywood history, even alongside The Continental from the classic Fred and Ginger period. Sorry to you Dustin Hoffman fans out there but Roy Scheider was THE man as far as I am concerned.
ReplyDeleteYou will never get an argument from me...Dustin Hoffman so badly overacts in Kramer Vs. Kramer that I have difficulty watching his performance at times. The courtroom scenes, in particular...it's like, Dustin, do you want some salt and pepper for that scenery you are chewing? His best scenes are with young Justin Henry, I think.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that I find remarkable about Scheider's performance as Joe Gideon (well, one of the things, anyway) was that he was NOT Fosse's first choice for the role. It originally went to Richard Dreyfuss, who was of course hot off an Oscar win for The Goodbye Girl in 1977. You get a lot of stories for why Dreyfuss left the project, but leave it he did, leaving Fosse scrambling for a new Joe Gideon. Scheider was known for the Jaws movies at that point, and Fosse was said to be skeptical...highly so.
What strikes me the most about Scheider as Gideon is that yes, he is a royal son of a bitch, a womanizer...but he is ultimately a likable sort, with a decent and daresay kind heart, someone you would be honored to know. And the most kind of tragic there is in show business: an utter genius but too damned self-loathing and self-destructive to realize it or enjoy it.
Leland Palmer and Ann Reinking are terrific too...and John Lithgow's turn is wonderful, too. Lithgow's part was a slap at Mike Nichols, who had a terrible rivalry with Fosse.
I love this movie so much! Even as a kid and a lot of it went over my head. It's oft-quoted in the Starr house
ReplyDelete"Airotica" hahaha that is funny but also so creative, I would not have come up with an idea like that to call this art, thanks for the video, I enjoyed it!
ReplyDelete