Scribd
Upload
77 views4 pages

Ballroom

The document provides a summary of the plot of the movie "Strictly Ballroom". It describes the main characters Scott and Fran as dancers who rebel against the strict rules of competitive ballroom dancing and dream of dancing their own unique steps. The movie depicts two worlds - the conservative world of competitive ballroom dancing obsessed with rules and winning trophies, and Fran's more realistic immigrant family's world focused on passion and self-expression. Scott acts as the hero who learns to dance from the heart rather than just to win, while Barry Fife, the president of the Dance Federation, acts as the villain afraid of change. The overarching theme is about following your dreams and living life to the fullest.

Uploaded by

api-317315795
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as ODT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
77 views4 pages

Ballroom

The document provides a summary of the plot of the movie "Strictly Ballroom". It describes the main characters Scott and Fran as dancers who rebel against the strict rules of competitive ballroom dancing and dream of dancing their own unique steps. The movie depicts two worlds - the conservative world of competitive ballroom dancing obsessed with rules and winning trophies, and Fran's more realistic immigrant family's world focused on passion and self-expression. Scott acts as the hero who learns to dance from the heart rather than just to win, while Barry Fife, the president of the Dance Federation, acts as the villain afraid of change. The overarching theme is about following your dreams and living life to the fullest.

Uploaded by

api-317315795
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as ODT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Strictly Ballroom

Introduction:
The movie Strictly Ballroom by
Baz Luhrmann is an inspiring
film. It tells the story of the two
young dancers Scott and Fran.
They both rebel against the
Dance Federation rules and
dream of dancing their own
unique steps. The movie is a combination of a fairy tale,
a romantic comedy due to the romance between Scott
and Fran but humour in numerous scenes that begin
right at the start of the film. It is also a dance musical
because the whole plot evolves dancing and dancing
championships and even the movie includes satyre
making fun off the world but not proposing any
solutions. The action is set in Australia in the 1980s.
The World of the Film:
In

Strictly Ballroom there is two


worlds presented one of them is
representing the Australians living
with their customs. The
characters are wearing very
heavy make-up and shiny,
spectacular costumes. They are
presented with many stereotypes. The characters are
obsessed with winning everything they cant find a way
to talk about anything else. They are very conservative
so any change in their world is disregarded and
unwanted. They insulate themselves from the rest of
the world. The Dance Federation with its strict rules is a
symbol of conservativism. New steps made up by Scott
are seen as a threat and all the federation want to
destroy his idea of dancing freestyle. For them the steps
are completely awful and due to that he loses the

Strictly Ballroom
Waratah Championships. Liz, Scotts partner is furious
with him and their partnership breaks up.
The second world is all about Fran and her Spanish
family, which are fresh immigrants in Australia. They
run a new open bar the Toledo Milk Bar. As new
migrants their living conditions arent the best, living
under the railway tracks is an example. Compared to
the ballroom dancers their world is considered as more
real. They separate themselves from the mystic idea of
dancing for victory. Their dancing comes from the heart
instead of Australians dance that is only about trophies.
The Spanish passion is showed when Frans father
shows Scott the Paso Doble dance. Their way of life is
more enjoyable in my opinion because it is about
expressing yourself instead of continuously chasing the
victory which isnt as important.
The Hastings family although it looks normal with a
married couple and two children totally isnt, it is
completely dysfunctional. The wife Shirley is totally onedimensional with many typical wife stereotypes. She
also lives on the successes of her son and has larger
ambitions than he himself. She dreams of Scott lifting
the Pan Pacific Trophy. Frans family however is
presented more realistically, but involves stereotypes
aswell such as Frans very harsh father or a typically
ethnic dressed grandmother.
Men in the film are showed in many ways for example
Barry Fife is a typical leader and the boss of everything
treating women as less important. Frans father Rico
has lots of authority amongst his family and at some
part plays a fatherly role for Scott. On the other hand
the Scotts father Doug is completely dominated by his
wife and ignored at every occasion by his children. Les
Kendall is also seen as different because of his
homosexuality.

Strictly Ballroom
The Australian women are showed as plastic and
manipulative. Liz refuses to dance Scotts steps even
though she is his partner for a certain amount of time.
Shirley is trying to persuade Scott to dance by the rules
by crying and acting hysterically which is very clever
but fails to succeed. Fran is completely opposite she is
completely natural, very shy and lacking selfconfidence. She is portrayed very positively compared
to the others.
Heroes vs Villains:
As in

90% of the movies there must


be a hero and a villain. Where
the hero achieves his goal and
defeats the darker force.

Scott
is the main hero in the movie he is
a
ballroom dancer with a completely
new way
of thinking of a new way of dancing
he isnt just chasing the victory as all the other ballroom
dancers. The story is evolves around him. Throughout
the movie his attitude changes from being dismissive to
Fran at the beginning of the movie he cant live without
her at the end of the movie. He has a chance to dance
alongside a champion but eventually ends up dancing
with Fran. Scott attitude changes thanks to Frans family
as they teach him how to dance Paso Doble properly.
Fran is another heroine in the film she has to surpass
many obstacles. Fran is very similar to fairy tale
character Cinderella. In the beginning she is shy, with
glasses and without make-up. In the end she blossoms
into being a great ballroom dancer. The movie shows us
the journey of Fran gaining confidence. Fran already
knows the right way to dance which is from the heart.
She needs to change the style of her life and start living
it to the full. Fran also shows a strong desire to dance
her own steps which is shared with Scott. During the

Strictly Ballroom
film she starts being more attractive and wearing
stronger colours.
Barry Fife is the main villain in the movie he is the
President of the Dance Federation. His style of dress
shows that he is a character that cant be trusted and is
described as corrupt. He is a great enemy of change,
afraid that he will loose his power. He proves his bad
character when he abuses Les, he also lies to Scott
about the 1967 final. When Scott eventually reaches a
success Barry looses all his power.
Theme:
The main theme in the movie
is about dancing and living the
life to the full. It shows the
huge changes of Scott where
he learns a completely new
way of dancing instead of
doing out schemes on the
dance floor he uses his full heart after the competition
with Fran. However Fran goes through the film getting
her confidence and blossoms out to be a bright,
beautiful woman. It shows that it is worth it to chase
your dreams because anything can happen when you
fight for them.

You might also like