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All That Jazz (1979)

post #1 of 9
2/20/08 at 12:50am
Thread Starter 
Warning: I talk about God.

I've struggled with my spirituality for a long time. But yes, I believe in God. I couldn't really tell you why -- I just do. I think I need to believe that there's something bigger out there, something that binds us and connects us. I call my god Art. (Not short for Arthur.)

Anyway, even though I love movies and feel that working in this form is what I'm meant to do with my life, I've never felt the presence of God -- never felt like I was lifted out of my body and having an actual, physical spiritual experience -- through a film. It's happened with other pieces of art, but never before with a film. Until tonight.

Jesus, this fuckin' movie. I was already in love with it, I was already prepared to come on here and say what a masterpiece I thought it was, and make jokes about "Hey, Phil, are you reading this? I watched this from beginning to end in one sitting, except for a shower" but then those last ten minutes were like "Haha, no, Brendan, THIS IS THE GREATEST FILM OF ALL TIME."

Holy shit. I mean, really, that's all I can say right now: Holy shit. I can't even describe what just happened to me -- I had that physical experience. I felt the presence of God through this film. I finally felt that transcendesence, that peace and you know, ass-kickingness that there's something bigger than me out there. And its name is Art.

Wow.

Also, that last sequence? Hey, Broadway, are you paying attention? That's how you reinvent a modern pop song. That's how you do a motherfuckin jukebox musical.
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post #2 of 9
2/20/08 at 3:22am
The whole movie builds to the last 15-20 minutes when Gideon begins having his hallucinations. The Bye, Bye Life capper is pure musical greatness.

Scheider was so fucking good in this. Has anyone portrayed lifelong weariness as good as this?
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post #3 of 9
2/20/08 at 3:31am
Whoops thought this was the Adventures of Ford Fairlane spinoff thread!
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post #4 of 9
2/20/08 at 3:34am
For some reason I thought this was about the Jazz Singer with Neil Diamond. Thank god thats not what you were talking about.
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post #5 of 9
2/25/08 at 11:22pm
Ah. Incredible film. Schieder is dynamite in this, dynamite I say! It doesn't make me see God or anything, but that's only because God is fake.
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post #6 of 9
2/28/08 at 12:52am
This is a great movie.
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post #7 of 9
2/28/08 at 1:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
It doesn't make me see God or anything, but that's only because God is fake.
As long as Death looks like late-'70s Jessica Lange, I'm fine with that.
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post #8 of 9
11/15/11 at 9:26am

Watched this for the second time last night and was blown away. It had been years since I'd seen it, my parents suggested it to me when I was a teenager, but I didn't remember it like this. I didn't remember it being such a musical or so cynical and yet hopeful at the same time. 

 

Scheider personifies obsession and sex perfectly. I remember a time when I'd only seen him in Jaws, and I'm glad that's changed. It's easy to believe that every woman in New York would fall in love with him, and that he's an artist so driven he would try to leave a hospital to continue a show when he's been promised death as a result. Fosse also did a great job of shooting around the fact that Scheider isn't a trained dancer. His Gideon is believable as a former dancer turned choreographer/director, and he does a great job with the few bits of dancing he does do, but he leaves it to the professionals.

 

Love the meta-aspects. Fosse writing and directing, and Gideon directing himself for the last half hour. "Bye, bye Life" is truly rousing, great to sing along with even though it's incredibly depressing. Something about curtain calls in movies gets to me, so seeing the whole cast in the crowd (including young Gideon, top hat and all), and that last hug with his daughter, gave me goosebumps. 

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post #9 of 9
11/15/11 at 9:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartleby_Scriven View Post

Watched this for the second time last night and was blown away. It had been years since I'd seen it, my parents suggested it to me when I was a teenager, but I didn't remember it like this. I didn't remember it being such a musical or so cynical and yet hopeful at the same time. 

 

Scheider personifies obsession and sex perfectly. I remember a time when I'd only seen him in Jaws, and I'm glad that's changed. It's easy to believe that every woman in New York would fall in love with him, and that he's an artist so driven he would try to leave a hospital to continue a show when he's been promised death as a result. Fosse also did a great job of shooting around the fact that Scheider isn't a trained dancer. His Gideon is believable as a former dancer turned choreographer/director, and he does a great job with the few bits of dancing he does do, but he leaves it to the professionals.

 

Love the meta-aspects. Fosse writing and directing, and Gideon directing himself for the last half hour. "Bye, bye Life" is truly rousing, great to sing along with even though it's incredibly depressing. Something about curtain calls in movies gets to me, so seeing the whole cast in the crowd (including young Gideon, top hat and all), and that last hug with his daughter, gave me goosebumps. 


Wonderful comments.  I love this movie.  It's truly unique--I don't know if anything like it exists--and deeply personal.  You're so right about the end, just incredible.  For additional Scheider fixes, check out 52 Pick-Up and Blue Thunder. 

 

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