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We learnt the Boggo Poggo - Strictly Ballroom (1992)
53 Plays2 months ago
Come dance with Matthew and Mitch as they delve into Baz Luhrmann's stylistic directorial debut. There will be dancing, there will be laughing, and there will be a giant Coca-Cola sign that you can do some sweet moves in front of.
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Transcript
Introduction and Spoiler Alert
00:00:00
Speaker
This is your Under Southern Screens spoiler alert. We will be spoiling the hell out of some Strictly Ballroom. So please watch the movie beforehand if you don't want it spoiled or listen to us and then go watch it anyway. You might have a good time with our insights then watching it.
00:00:17
Speaker
Have a good one.
00:00:22
Speaker
am not right. You're terrible Muriel. muriel Talk to me. You gonna do that paga paga? Today is a brand new day. No, that's it. It's the vibe.
Podcast Introduction: 'Under Southern Screens'
00:00:35
Speaker
G'day, fellow Aussie film lovers, and welcome to another episode of Under Southern Screens, the most strictly Australian cinema podcast. I'm Mitch. And I'm Matthew. Strictly is absolutely right. Exactly. Who would have thought that, you know, it would be a law or something, but yeah, i mean, how are you doing today, Mitch? How's going? I'm doing really good. i got to go home early from my job. Yes! Sick. That's a win. I didn't do anything wrong, just like we had a short day today. All the more time to think about our film for Under Sudden Screams this week. You know, you came home, you ruminated on it, I'm sure. I did. I didn't um consider having a ah ah nap and then instead drink a dare iced coffee. Just keep up the grind set, mate. Don't you worry. Oh, you better
Spotlight on Baz Luhrmann's 'Strictly Ballroom'
00:01:19
Speaker
believe it. Can you believe that this is our very, very first Baz Luhrmann episode of Under Southern Screens? cannot believe that. Wait, I can?
00:01:27
Speaker
I can believe that. But we're going to the whole spiel later, but we're doing Strictly Ballroom. Yes, we are. Strictly ballroom. And I... Like, my history with Besselman is a bit tenuous at best. I mean, he seems like a lovely guy in general, right? Like, I'm not... Please don't take any of this as, like, an attack on him. I've just... I think Elvis is not a great movie. I straight up just did not enjoy that. Just right out of the gate. Right out of the gate. think Elvis is not a great movie. I have nothing against you if you enjoy it, but I found nothing in there that was good for me.
00:02:00
Speaker
And I think... My issues with ah The Great Gatsby stem mostly from being forced to watch it five to seven times in 2013. Oh my gosh.
Mitch's 'The Great Gatsby' Flight Experience
00:02:10
Speaker
Because I went to America in 2013 and I was on one of those flights that doesn't have, you don't have your own screen. It was a communal screen. Oh my gosh. And so it was just all Great Gatsby. It was either Great Gatsby or the Will Smith and Jaden Smith vehicle after Earth. Yeah.
00:02:27
Speaker
I got both those movies back to back continuously. It's like the two tails on one coin. It was horrendous. um It was a nightmare. Sorry, that's my beef with Great Gatsby. See, at that point, even I would hate Great Gatsby if I had to watch it. And and if my other only other option was after Earth. not even an option. It was just back to back viewing, double screen.
00:02:50
Speaker
Just double double feature back to back viewing. What airliner was it? It was probably United, honestly. Oh, yeah, yeah. That does sound like United behaviour. It was probably United. So that's my history with Baz Luhrmann. But before I go into my thoughts on this one, how about you give us some background on... Well, give us the rundown. Give us the shpita.
Overview of 'Strictly Ballroom'
00:03:08
Speaker
can absolutely do that, Mitch. Thank you for letting me do that. going to interrupt continuously. Thanks for opening the floodgates. You're welcome.
00:03:15
Speaker
Our film this week on USS is Strictly Ballroom, also known as the best Australian film ever made. Pfft. Starting strong. It's not weak. Can you guys tell it's my weak for the movie? Anyway.
00:03:28
Speaker
Directed by wannabe Peter Jackson, Baz Luhrmann, Strictly Ballroom is a sweeping romantic comedy dance drama set in Sydney and released in 1992. This was Baz Luhrmann's filmic directorial debut, the first in his Red Curtain trilogy of films and is directly adapted from the stage play of the same name, also directed by Baz Luhrmann during his time at NIDA. I'm sure we will never talk about Baz Luhrmann ever again on this podcast. Seems pretty flash in the pan, to be honest.
00:03:57
Speaker
We follow Scott Hastings, the Michael Jordan of ballroom dancing, who suffers a crippling blow to his career after he is essentially blacklisted by dancing his own radical steps in the Pan Pacific Grand Prix. Scott constantly battles between his devilish mother Shirley, played by the excellent Pat Thompson, the Abby Lee Miller of ballroom dancing, his meek and washed-up father Doug, played by Barry Otto, the Michael Jordan's dad of ballroom dancing, And the president of the Australian Ballroom Dancing Federation, Barry Fyfe, played by Australian screen legend Bill Hunter. So much drama!
00:04:30
Speaker
And to add insult to injury, Scott falls in love with the unconfident but gifted Fran, played by Tara Maurice, who also performs a cover of the song Time After Time in this film that is objectively better than the Cyndi Lauper original.
00:04:43
Speaker
The film is known for its frenetic fast-paced editing and cinematography, sweeping dance sequences and revolutionary themes that would be completely groundbreaking to anyone outside the doors of NIDA or any creative institution around the world ever.
Production, Impact, and Acclaim of the Film
00:04:56
Speaker
Strictly Ballroom was produced on a measly amount of $3 million dollars but somehow ended up at the Cairns Film Festival and jump-started the careers of Baz Luhrmann and his wife and muse Catherine Martin, whose costume design birthed the completely original and not overused hot take that... You know, I think Catherine Martin is the real talent here. I mean, she is, but like, you don't see people saying the same thing about Craig Pierce. Other notable cast in this film include Gia Caritas, a young Sonja Kruger, and the guy that plays Stu on the fantastic mockumentary sitcom Frontline.
00:05:27
Speaker
It was released in the Australian film resurgence of the early 1990s and has a lasting cultural impact to this day. I bloody love this film and petition that the film, as well as the others in the Red Curtain trilogy, be finally released on 4K. will buy 10 copies. I love this film.
00:05:44
Speaker
So can you tell I like this film? Honestly, it didn't come across. Yeah, I was being a bit modest. If you could like just just one last time for the record, what do you think of this film? I think that this film is a modern Australian masterpiece. It is not Baz Luhrmann's best film. It would be if Moulin Rouge didn't exist. But Moulin Rouge is a major guilty pleasure movie and I'm sure we will
Baz Luhrmann's Unique Filmmaking Style
00:06:07
Speaker
get to it down the track. But yeah, probably I think Strictly Ballroom is a masterpiece of a film.
00:06:12
Speaker
And given it's a directorial debut...
Matthew's Personal Connection to the Film
00:06:15
Speaker
is uh it's spellbiting to say the least yeah basil lemon yep i love him i can't get enough of him from your perspective like had you heard of this film before going into it like what was your preconceived notion of strictly ballroom i knew about strictly i possibly didn't know inherently it was a basil erman movie but i'd heard the name of the movie before i wasn't surprised to find that it was a basil erman movie though yes it As soon as it starts, it's very very clearly Baz Luhrmann joint. Oh, I mean, like even before that, just being told, oh, this is a Baz Luhrmann movie. went, oh, yeah, that makes sense to me. Yeah, that's fair. It's good. I liked Yeah, that's good. That's good. Yeah, exactly. I don't think I like it as much as everyone else enjoys it. Get out. No. Podcast over. and's And that was USS. um Never to go again. Thanks for listening. Canceled. Canceled, yeah. I understand that I maybe have a very strong attachment to this film. You're not the only one, though. um A lot of my mutuals on Letterboxd really love this movie as well. Someone even went so far as to say it's the only good Australian movie, which i mean pissed me off to no extent. Yeah. You should have just linked our podcast in the description like, erm, well, actually, we have a whole... That's not going to happen. I'm never doing that. Epic dunk in the Letterboxd comments. Oh, dude. Getting ratioed on Letterboxd would actually be insane. um But I did hold beef with that and considered DMing them on Messenger to go, what did you mean by this exactly? Like, what... yeah His brother never watched, i don't know, Mad Max? Seriously, like... yeah Mad Max is my go-to, but just seriously, I do love Mad Max. I can't wait to talk about Mad Max. Anyway, it's good. this is i think my one big criticism of this is that I think they should have kept the mockumentary style the whole way through. Yes, yeah yeah. At the start when it's introduced, I went, oh, this is this is not a all I was expecting. I love this. This is great. fine Especially because the way they're amping up because I didn't fully know it was a comedy going in. Because this is a comedy. This is straight up hilarious. yeah So when they were going...
00:08:20
Speaker
Oh, Scott, he did this horrible thing. Because, you know, they're talking about what he did as if it was yeah horrendous and horrible and disgusting. Like he pulled a Tonya Harding or something. Exactly. And I was like, did he, like, sexually harass someone? Like, what is going on here?
Comedy and Dance in 'Strictly Ballroom'
00:08:33
Speaker
You know? like and it just turns out he he was just a bit more, like He dared to dance his own steps. He dared to dance different.
00:08:41
Speaker
And that was just hilarious. and Just getting all the ah talking heads and the the little mother of Scott and stuff like that. Getting the names of the characters. Thing is, it only happens for like the first 10 minutes. Yeah. And then, it is which is like, look, the movie still works perfectly great without it. I was having a giggle.
00:08:58
Speaker
I was having a chuckle. i was having a good time. I was invested in the ending. i i mean, of course, they were going to dance together. And of course, the you know, like it was going to end happily. But I i was invested. i wanted to see it turn out. I was excited to see them have their happy endings. Yeah, it's it's such a whimsical sort of effort, you know, like it's a simplistic structure and it's very sort of melodramatic, but that's something I love about Baz Luhrmann is you just, because it's got that self-aware comedy to it where can just be like, okay, I'm along for the ride. yeah The characters treat everything super seriously, but the movie doesn't.
00:09:33
Speaker
There's just the way, i can't i can't even go into the examples. Just the whole movie is just framed in this way where everyone's just so serious about... i don't know they told like he's going into war and stuff and yeah it's like the ba all and end all and meanwhile like the characters are like running spa businesses yeah and like auto detailing shops oh that's so is funny the biggest laugh from me was ah around the start when they're going oh how when's he going to get a new partner when's
Film's Style and Cinematography
00:10:01
Speaker
he going to get a new partner and the um the yeah antagonist the not the main antagonist like the dancing rival is in a spa with his his ex-partner i think at that point yeah his ex-partner and it zooms out though and it's not even his spa he's just spar and and in at a at his shop that he owns yeah yeah yeah it just threw me for loop i was like what
00:10:23
Speaker
And that's the thing I love about this movie is that all of the performances, like every actor knows what movie they're in and they're just giving it 120% in terms of exaggeration excess. And I'm just like, yes, the person who plays it with the most self-awareness is the mother, right? Yeah. Pat Thompson. She just goes all out. And this could be a movie where that lack of, you know, winking to the audience that, you know, we're in on this as well. It could have gone a completely different way. important to mention because we forgot to mention this this time is one of the movies that's in our intro it is yeah exactly right because we forgot to mention that uh yeah picnic and hanging rock is also in our intro yeah which i'm sure people were shouting at us to mention last week the comments yeah so we so we we literally remembered it as soon as we like wrapped yeah also forgot to talk about peter weir oh yeah we forgot to talk about so much in that movie but you know like yeah so this one uh this is an australian film that i believe is iconic enough to be in our intro because the dialogue itself has such an australian tint to it and why don't do the bogo bogo bogo come on number 100 yeah it's so good it's just like yeah and the accents are yeah it just makes it such a colloquial movie to to that to watch and quote and discuss that little girl is so funny too like that part when doing all the testing for the different partners and she's just talking crap about one she's literally just looking on from the sidelines and it's just like yeah it's funny yeah i i have to disclose though i i watched this in quite a haze yes I drank a lot of wine the night before. Bro was in a Baz Luhrmann movie right before he watched Strictly Ballroom. A little bit, yeah. I drank a lot wine
Character Analysis: Scott and Fran
00:12:13
Speaker
the night before. Got home quite late. Woke up the next morning, went, I'm going to have chance to watch this Monday. was Sunday. were called Tuesday. That's messaged you saying, is my current state going to ruin the conversation? And I'm like, You said, you need to do what you feel like you need to do. And I like, I'm going to have to power through. You just have to go for it, man. washed through me quite a bit in a good way though this is a good movie to watch while you're hung over as frick yeah you don't really have to pay attention you can let it wash over you but at the same time it is such a big stimulant like a visual stimulant dopamine rush very fun movie and the colors you mentioned the costume design which is brilliant and so tacky and i love it it's so And the makeup. I love Scott's ex-partner, Gia Caritas. Her makeup is fantastic. And that's just another thing want to point out. Everyone in this movie is hot. Oh, yeah. Everyone in this movie. Yeah. Except for anyone who's like a villain, kind of. Yeah. A hundred percent. It's just so archetypal. Everyone's so hot.
00:13:15
Speaker
They were all like size, size threes. Glistening. And the costumes are so ornate. And, I want to talk about the lead Scott, right? Because I think, and I know I love this film, I personally think he is the weakest part of the film. Yeah, I do agree. Absolutely. He yeah is the least interesting part. He has have more of a personality and he's kind of a wet blanket. Yeah. I reckon it's probably a script problem, honestly. like Yeah, and I think it comes from that whole thing of he's playing it for arrogance, and he doesn't really grow so and change much. No, he kind of just does what he's told throughout the whole movie. His growth is picking who's telling him what to do, basically. Yeah, exactly. The instigating incident, which is him doing his own stuff, that is his own choice. but From that point onwards, he's just listening to his mom telling him never to do that again or anyone When he's listening to Fran. Who then tells him, you should do these movies you want. And then everything beyond that, anytime he and Fran butt heads, it's just because he starts listening to someone else again. like, oh, thought you were listening to me. Yeah, it's like, I thought you were going to do this. Yeah, and it's just, yeah, he's he's weak sauce. I mean, he's and he's on a very attractive guy and he's a great dancer. And he's now a very accomplished politician in real life. Yeah, Paul Mercurio. I had no idea. I'm going to do a quick look up of what what party you subscribe to, but I know he assumed office very recently.
00:14:36
Speaker
Oh, he's part of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. that even mean? don't even know going back to my year 12 legal studies really quick. I never did legal studies, so I'm screwed. Yeah, I also love Tara Marie as Fran. Fran is a fantastic character. She's fun. Tara Marie is really fun, and I really enjoy Fran as a character. She's a lot more interesting. And I love that her character isn't brought much attention to until the right moment. Yeah. The first time we see her is she's, like, essentially pushed over by ex-partner. And then Scott. And then Scott and it's like, oh, I guess that's just a funny gag. Like they're so self-absorbed in their own world that they're knocking over like the nerd character or whatever. And then we as an audience forget about her. Like the people in the movie forget about her. And then she comes up and it's like, you. That's crazy. So it's like the audience's interpretation of who this character is. It grows and evolves with the characters. It's just such a really masterful piece of story structure, in my opinion. And I really enjoy that segment where her family's teaching him how to kind that more Spanish-style dancing.
Emotional Depth in Dance Moments
00:15:41
Speaker
The pasadoble, yes. That's the one. Oh, my gosh. That's really fun. It's like the expansion of culture and the expansion
00:15:48
Speaker
out of the rule book which is the whole point of the movie is yeah you know breaking free from convention and going your own way but also at the same time honoring the legacy of the past yeah exactly on that point i've spoken to a lot of people about this film and for a lot of them they sort of check out of the dance sequences what was your take on that because they do kind of wash over you but ah yeah what do you reckon What I think is really funny is that the more personable moments of dance where it's just Scott and Fran are kind of better than when they're actually at the competition.
00:16:23
Speaker
Mostly because of the emotional core, but also just feels like the dance moves themselves are better there. I feel like it's almost deliberate that when they get to the competition, everyone just kind of... I don't want to say sucks because I'm pretty sure they all can dance better than I can. but no one really dances that good and that's i think it furthers the bit that this is taken so seriously by everyone but everyone's quick to mention like this is the amateur league this is like yeah and you mentioned before everyone's got a second job because no one's actually living off of this no one's a pro barry fife and his vhs business or whatever like his workout ball dancing vhs business it's so funny i don't know i don't think I checked out of the uh dancing them I think the dancing I found just as to me it was part the bit it was part of the joke and so I found that funny because I was watching just extended moments of people being better than average at dancing but in a way that it meant that when they were talking about it the way they talked about it was not earned they're just moving in a slightly more flowing way yeah just that moment with in front the coca-cola sign and all that oh my gosh can we talk about that I mean we can that's why I brought it up no actually matthew we can't it's off limits it's almost like you know how to seamlessly transition into you know different talking points yeah i'm trained what can say i love that coca-cola scene it's probably top five in any australian movie wow everything about that scene works for me the correlation between rising above the dance studio so it's metaphorical visually. And then the excellent, excellent cover of Time After Time, which, as I said in the intro, I think is way better than the Cyndi Lauper
Symbolism and Themes in the Film
00:18:04
Speaker
song. do actually love the use of that song throughout this movie, by the way. It was very fun. it's so good. And also firmly cementing the Baz Luhrmann stereotype of using a song, but in different cover of the song with a different style. This is the infancy of that. And it just works so well. And the dancing is so tender and personal. And they do it at golden hour, obviously. So there's a nice sunset in the background. Film students love that. Hashtag. Bring back Coca-Cola. Community Council of Merrickville.
00:18:35
Speaker
Bring back the Coca-Cola sign above that that one building. It's too long a hashtag. It's too long a hashtag. Yeah, sorry. I'm not good at SEO. yeah And then the other thing about it is like seeing Scott's dad like ruminating on his past by dancing below them. ah Just like the symbolism. The symbolism. They have risen above the past, you know, everything that the weight that the past holds to to dance freely and in front of the Coca-Cola sign. It's a metaphor for for buying a lot of coke. Yeah, buy coke.
00:19:05
Speaker
And I'm not talking about cola. Well, wait till we get to Moulin Rouge. Anyway, what did you think of that little subplot there? The older generation, the Ghostbusters afterlife of Strictly Ballroom.
00:19:18
Speaker
I can't believe I just said that. Horrendous that you said that. Take that back. I rescind my movie card. This is way better than Ghostbusters Afterlife. I'm going to be real. i got confused at the end about the explanation that Dad was giving. So the first explanation by, is it Barry? he the guy who runs the- Yeah, Barry Five. Yeah, the president. That's not a real explanation of what occurred. that's That's just something he's saying to manipulate Scott and he's you know lying and being a- a bit cheeky. Well, cheeky. Chiki is more on the word. Some people would add another C word after Chiki to describe what he's doing. and I then got confused. and him I reckon this is probably the hungover haze. This is where the film lost you. This is where the film lost me. And to be honest, i all I had to understand was that he had been lied to and the dad hadn't just given up on his dreams. I got through that and that was enough to yeah pack the emotional weight of the ending. But don't actually know the intricacies. So... As far as I'm aware, his mum didn't dance with his dad at the Pan Pacific. So she danced with Scott's trainer. Oh, so why did she do that? Because the mother was worried that they would lose because Scott's dad was dancing his own steps right or whatever. So they didn't even try. And and this is one of my favorite moments in the movie when...
00:20:32
Speaker
Scott's dad, who has been neglected to speak the whole movie, is like, son, can I bend your ear for a tick? The whole movie. yeah But he finally gets to just let loose in this final moment. And it ends off with that it's also a climactic line, we lived our lives in fear. And it ruminates around the stadium. And everyone turns to look at him. And it's just such a poignant moment in the film. And then also, like, something that really hits me because I'm very focused on, like...
00:20:58
Speaker
inadequacy as a concept of humanity and like what we get to do in our lifetime and it's just such an interesting sort of insinuation that this character has a lifelong guilt of never yeah like a regret yeah exactly and it's just yeah it's such a poignant moment about independence and rebellion against the system and yeah it's it's good stuff no it's good i mean even though i didn't fully understand what was going on i still had a good time and also yeah i mean i didn't have to fully understand what was going on for the we lived our life in fear line to really work that was good stuff and then also when he's um the one who starts the clap oh yeah it's just rising and then kind of the rest of the stadium joins in but then you notice that some people don't join in like yeah you wouldn't join in would you a little scrubs you'll hate it yeah you know looking at the way other people describe it and the you describe it i think i just didn't connect with it as much as everyone else did yeah yeah maybe when i'm not as hungover one day i'll watch it again and i'll find it i think yeah all of basil erman's movies are ones that grow on you i think so maybe i'll actually love great catsby once i watch it again Well, I mean, you've already watched it seven times. Yeah, but don even that one I was 13. That one's in the can. I've watched this maybe four or five times like over the past couple of years, and each time I've loved it more and and been able to appreciate it more. Although, I will admit, Mitch, and I want to lay this on you real quick, I have film prejudices, and they all appear in Strictly Ballroom, and I want to lay them out here on the pod. Let's go through your film prejudices. Yeah, that's right. So... Number one. I cannot stand slow motion footage that isn't shot at a higher frame rate. Oh, so it's choppy? Yeah, it's just choppy slow-mo that's like... I also hate that. Yeah. It's here in full force. It's something that there's another director who I do like, but they do that often. Might be Sam Raimi? can't remember. It doesn't look good. It frustrates me. Yeah, it's garbage. yeah Yeah. And it's like, why do you do this? Number two. This is sort of a sim in a similar ilk. Freeze framing on a still frame to insinuate drama. And they do this a little bit. So it's like, you know, he'll be like looking at his partner leaving and they don't hold on like a shot of him like reacting to it, but they just freeze frame. They just cut.
00:23:16
Speaker
The actual image. Yeah, into like just a singular cell. I don't like it. It just, yeah. If you're planning on doing a dramatic hold like that, shoot it for real. Don't do it in post. It looks so cheesy. I kind of like that. yeah I like that kind of cheese. And that's why they're my prejudices. no, really.
Personal Prejudices and Critiques
00:23:35
Speaker
I don't think it looks good. That's not what I'm saying. yeah But I think depending on the film, and I think this is the kind of film it works for, Yeah. ah Because it's cheesy. and and You said it's cheesy. It's the kind of cheese I like. But I do also understand that not all cheese is for everyone. You know, some people aren't a fan of the ball blue. you know what I'm saying? like Again, these are completely exclusive to my film, watching prejudices, and you should not take them into account when watching this movie.
00:23:58
Speaker
But those two things are in this movie a lot. And it's the what like that's the only reason I don't give this five stars is because like it just it doesn't work here, in my opinion. I was curious on your rating on Letterboxd why it wasn't higher. Aside from that, man, I love Strictly Ballroom. I think the performances are fantastic. The music is insanely good, not only just the
Cultural Significance of 'Love Is in the Air'
00:24:23
Speaker
live... But also the, you know, the actual score itself is just ah so lively and full and yet love is in the air to close out the film. Fantastic inclusion.
00:24:35
Speaker
Honestly, culture defining for Australian culture. I did a bit of research on this. Like that song is forever ingrained with Strictly Ballroom these days. They played it at the Sydney 2000 closing ceremony. John Paul Young did Lovers in the Air and they had a bunch of ballroom dancers out on the field. That was our representation of Australia to the world in that moment. So it's just, yeah, impeccable. Kind of awesome.
00:24:58
Speaker
I kind of love how different the movies we've watched so far are. We've really managed to express how broad, in quotation marks, a genre is of Australian film. Like, it's... i don't I don't mean to, like, bring it up, but Mad Max escaped containment. Like...
00:25:14
Speaker
star true it's my go-to it's my go-to on everything that's okay it's it's fair it's fair you like you like mad max i like baz lerman where uh like fish and chips well like peas in pot fish and chips hey we're gonna have a wee fish and chips wee bit of flake i like some battered flake now want to get some flake i always get a hamburger You're a hamburger fish and chip shop, man. There's nothing like a fish and chips hamburger. best friend of maybe 10 years is the exact same and we still haven't come to a mutual consensus about this. What's wrong with me enjoying a lovely hamburger? Nothing's wrong with you enjoying lovely hamburger, but you go to a fish and chip shop for fish and
Humorous Debate: Hamburgers vs. Fish and Chips
00:25:53
Speaker
chip. No, I go for hamburger. Oh, yeah. Okay. All right. Well... I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree. And that's the great part about this country. We can agree that dim sum and potato cakes. Yes. Yeah. Give me that. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. Can I be honest with you, Mitch? I ate two Cornettos throughout the runtime of Strictly Ballroom.
00:26:16
Speaker
Awesome. I was considering just drinking half a bottle of Pepsi Max because I just was like, I need something to drown out my mouthfeel right now. The fact that this is a directorial debut gives me hope. That's all I'll say. Look, I'm not going to consider myself a connoisseur of the Baz Luhrmann style since I've only watched two of them and one of them was in twenty one of them was seven times in 2013.
00:26:38
Speaker
But there is a style already here. Yeah. You know, there's there's you can see the beginnings of... a very particular way to craft a film. And that wild. And that's pretty rad. That's insane, you know? Any artist having their own style from an early stage like that, like, not even, like, movies, just any kind of artist. And it's so unique as well. Exactly. Having such a unique and interesting style, it's very impressive. He's obviously a very strong auteur, even though I don't like auteur theory, but... But I think if we're talking about Orte, I think Baz Luhrmann fits that. Or Orte, because his wife did amazing costumes. Oh, yeah, of course. An interesting story about this film is that the producer, whose name was Ted Albert, he died before they started
Financing the Movie: The Producer's Widow
00:27:23
Speaker
shooting. That's horrible. And the whole movie was in jeopardy, essentially, because he was like the main financier or whatever. And Ted Albert's wife, who was not in the movie business at all, like it was, you know, like like completely foreign world, I guess. bankrolled the entire movie from his like will because he knew, she said, and I watched this in an interview, she said, my husband could spot talent from a mile away and that talent was Baz Luhrmann. That's honestly beautiful. Yeah. it's such a and And the fact that we were this close to having denied the careers of not only Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, countless australian films but yeah the ripple effect on stuff like the australian film industry and you know the careers of hollywood actors in fact it's just yeah all of this sparked from strictly ballroom in my opinion it's just such a beautiful thing that this movie was made in my opinion incredible well in speaking about the ripples of australian culture can you give us
00:28:19
Speaker
the numero uno australian thing in this film the most australian thing about strictly ballroom in my opinion and this is going to be a bit of a discussion point is the bogo pogo scene from wayne played by stew from frontline i love this moment it is the most niche little bit of australian accent comedy of all time and i just want to run through it so throughout the whole movie wayne who's played by stew from frontline which is a very cool hip topical reference that i've said three times at
The Bogo Pogo: An Australian Comedic Moment
00:28:54
Speaker
this point i don't even know what let's stew from frontline means someone gets it someone gets it so 50 of the co-hosts of this uh podcast don't know what matt's to talking about ah but you know what i'm talking about when i say wayne wants to learn that bogo pogo i definitely know that wayne wants to learn the bogo pogo exactly he asks scott to learn the bogo pogo he asks president barry fife to learn the bogo pogo and barry fife essentially uses the learning of the bogo pogo to ah sexually harass slash hit on ah wayne's fiancee slash dance partner very awesome very cool Which is a great, interesting, cool moment. And yeah, so the most Australian thing about Strictly Ballroom is the Bogo Pogo. And that's why it's in our intro, ladies and gentlemen. It is indeed iconic.
00:29:44
Speaker
What a moment. what ah What a beautiful moment. What a beautiful film. Thank you for watching this, Mitch. When we first started talking about doing this podcast and you said you hadn't really watched a ton of Baz Luhrmann movies, I just got so excited, you know, just because it's like,
00:29:58
Speaker
I love Baz Luhrmann's filmography and it's a filmography that I'm not able to discuss in depth with just because of how sort of out there it is. So yeah, I'm so happy that this film had an impact on you. I'm happy too. And I'm actually excited to watch the rest of this film.
00:30:15
Speaker
uh red curtains trilogy did you call it actually so it's uh it's strictly ballroom is number one and then romeo and juliet number two and moulin rouge as number three trying to figure out what the third the second well i guess yeah because you mentioned moulin rouge earlier i went what's the third one then so it's romeo and juliet okay like that you could debate romeo and juliet might not be an australian film but it is best level we'll watch We'll watch it. We're going to watch a lot of movies that aren't technically Australian, but just are made by an Australian director, probably. Yeah. We're definitely going to end up talking about Mad Max V-Road. That's right. That wasn't even shot in Australia. Yeah, it was shot somewhere in Africa because rained in Australia, so they couldn't film here. Yeah. When we say Australian film, it has the essence and the aura of Australian film. Some very clearly subjective markers, but we'll watch it we'll talk about it. And yeah, I'm just, yeah. It's been fun. Speaking of subjective views on Australian film, next week... Oh, we won't spoil what it is, but... Yeah, I was going to say, but it's a goofy one. It's a goofy one, and it is probably the most Australian film we've watched so far. And I'm excited that I'm the one who gets to present it. know! I'm just... I can't wait to see what you come up with. Yeah, it's going to be I'm very excited. But you'll never guess what it is, so you'll have to come back next Wednesday. I think will. don't think anyone will, yeah. We're being a bit cheeky with this one. We're being a bit goofy with this one. We won't be like this normally, though.
00:31:40
Speaker
No, we're serious and analytical people. We do a fun podcast. Mitch, where can people find out more about next week's episode and about Under Southern
Engagement and Social Media Interaction
00:31:50
Speaker
Screens? Well, they can find out more at UndersouthernScreensPod on TikTok, threads, Instagram, and YouTube. YouTube? Yeah, and YouTube. yeah We were very good with that. That was good. We're still getting used to it. And you can also email us. Yeah, shoot us an email. ah You can email us some reviews, email us some requests, email us just some comments about past ones we've looked at. yeah
00:32:13
Speaker
Send us a photo of Paul Mercurio from st Strictly Ballroom. Send us a clip of you saying Bogo Pogo. Yes, do that. Maybe we'll have a competition. A Bogo Pogo competition. A Bogo Pogo off. Yes. no See how Aussie you can sound, especially you international people. it's kind of cheating if you're Australian. See.
00:32:32
Speaker
But yeah, you can so you can send all that at undersouthernscreenspod at gmail.com. Yes, we would love to read whatever you post. Also, leave us a review on your podcast streamer of choice. Yes, give us five stars or else we won't do any more. If you give us too many one stars, I might quit just from being sad. Yeah, as will be a bit sad. We're Australian. We have major imposter syndrome. It's true.
00:32:55
Speaker
We're going to get tall poppied. Yeah. That's exactly right. On that fun note, thank you for listening to this episode of Under Southern Screens. Thank you so much. We'll see you next week. Have fun. Bye. And keep an eye on them Southern Screens.
00:33:09
Speaker
Thanks for listening to another episode of Under Southern Screens. We'll be back next week to talk more films down under. We just want to attribute that our opening title is Heavy Duty by Zoo and our closing title is Heavy Weight by Fell Creek. Thanks so much for listening and Mitch and I will see you in the next episode.
00:33:26
Speaker
See you next time.
00:33:29
Speaker
Under Southern Screens would like to acknowledge the stolen lands on which this podcast is recorded and produced and pay tribute to the Wurundjeri and Woiwurrung people of the Kulin Nation and Kamaragal people of the Eora Nation.
00:33:42
Speaker
Sovereignty was never ceded and we pay respect to all Indigenous Elders past, present and emerging. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.