Luhrmann’s goofy and lovable film is reissued for generations who don’t know where TV’s Strictly Come Dancing got part of its name
Generations who don’t know why TV’s Strictly Come Dancing is called that (or even what the old Come Dancing show used to be) need to catch up with Baz Luhrmann’s debut directing feature from 1992; it is goofy, lovable and as sweetly romantic as you like. It was the feelgood crowdpleaser from Australia that made Luhrmann a star, and that “strictly” sounded a defiant note. Ballroom dancing may not have been cool (though it is now, more or less), but the film revealed it had passionate fans and underdog cred, like being an Abba nut in PJ Hogan’s Muriel’s Wedding from 1994, which also starred veteran Oz comedy turn Bill Hunter in a very similar role.
Strictly Ballroom also laid down the narrative template for Strictly Come Dancing; the film’s pairing of the brilliant dancer and the gutsy ingenue became the professional/celeb partnership on TV, and the not-so-secret eroticism of their growing relationship in the rehearsal studio became the small-screen’s all-important practice montage and backstory content. Brilliant young ballroom dancer Scott Hastings (smoulderingly played by Paul Mercurio) has been preparing for a prestigious national championship since he was six years old. His blowsy mum Shirley (Pat Thomson) is a teacher and frustrated dancer, while timid dad Doug (Barry Otto) is depressed, as a result of an awful dance-related trauma climactically revealed at the end. Scott has in the past got into trouble for departing from the strictly conceived dance steps, controversially improvising flashy moves of his own devising, but now looks as if he can win, reined in by his competent but uninspired partner.
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