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A couple of weeks ago I purchased a DVD of the 1979 Bob Fosse film, “All That Jazz”. And I must have watched it at least half a dozen times since then.
I remember seeing it when it first came out, I must’ve been about fourteen at the time. I remember NOT GETTING IT. I guess the themes were just too mature for a young Scottish boarding school attendee.
But now that I am older and wiser… Wow.
The film, in simple terms, is about the death of a high-living Broadway choreographer, roughly based on Bob Fosse’s own life. Though obviously Fosse wasn’t dying when he made the film, he could still see the Devil looming from afar, getting all ready to claim his due [Fosse died suddenly eight years later, on a park bench in New York].
And as now I’m getting older, the themes really hit home with me. Mortality. Aaaargh. You realize that you’re not going to live forever. You realize the “creative” path you embarked on does have its dark side. You realize you could’ve taken better care of yourself. You realize you could’ve made some better choices with your career.
This film captures these paradoxes perfectly. And yet the film is so utterly brilliant, sharp and sexy at the same time…
Anyway, I now consider this one of my favorite films of all time. Wonderful.
