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All That Jazz (1979)
DVD (1 discs
)
Blu-ray (1 discs
)
Genre: Musical
Aspect Ratio: Wide
Sound: DD Surr.
Academy Awards:
4 Wins , 9 Nominations
Synopsis
Living life at full speed can feel exhilarating, until the bill finally comes due. Bob Fosse's "All That Jazz," which he directed and co-wrote with Robert Alan Aurthur, finds the choreographer turned filmmaker turning the camera on himself in a bold, sometimes unsettling 1979 film that swings from gritty drama to dazzling musical, from allegory to satire. Roy Scheider, in an Oscar-nominated role, plays Joe Gideon, Fosse's thinly veiled alter ego, a chain-smoking, pill-popping, womanizing Broadway director who starts every morning with eye drops, pills and a shower, then grins into the mirror and declares that it's showtime. He's juggling a new musical, starring his patient ex-wife (Leland Palmer), and the editing of a film about a troubled stand-up comic (Cliff Gorman), while carrying on with his devoted girlfriend (Ann Reinking) and adoring his young daughter, even as his health crumbles. In one bold sequence, he stuns his backers with a steamy, provocative dance number set aboard a fantasy airliner. Throughout, he confides in an alluring angel of death (Jessica Lange), and in a measure of Fosse's daring, and perhaps his self-absorption, he literally opens Gideon's heart in a scene filmed during real open-heart surgery. As his body gives out, Joe's life plays out in a series of dazzling, hallucinatory fantasy numbers, culminating in a show-stopping farewell with Ben Vereen. At its best, as in the dazzling opening audition set to George Benson's "On Broadway," it delivers a parade of classic Fosse numbers, sharp, edgy and joyously physical. John Lithgow plays a rival director, and Giuseppe Rotunno's cinematography is striking. It shared the top prize at Cannes and won four Oscars.
Cast
Ben Vereen
John Lithgow
Roy Scheider
Jessica Lange
Ann Reinking
Leland Palmer
Cliff Gorman
Director
Bob Fosse
Awards & Nominations
- Oscar Nominee: Best Actor In A Leading Role
- Oscar Nominee: Best Cinematography
- Oscar Nominee: Best Director
- Oscar Nominee: Best Picture
- Oscar Nominee: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
- Oscar Winner: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
- Oscar Winner: Best Costume Design
- Oscar Winner: Best Film Editing
- Oscar Winner: Best Music, Original Score
Keywords
Academy Award Winners
AFI Top 25 Musicals
Music
National Film Registry
Technical Specifications
Audio Languages
English, French
Subtitle Languages
English, Spanish
Special Features
- Audio commentary
- Featurettes/Behind-The-Scenes/Documentaries
- Interviews
- Trailers/TV spots
- Selected-scene audio commentary by actor Roy Scheider
- Interviews With Roy Scheider
- 5 Bob Fosse Clips
- Audio commentary featuring editor Alan Heim
- Selected-scene audio commentary featuring editor Alan Heim
- New interviews with Heim and Fosse biographer Sam Wasson
- New conversation between actors Ann Reinking and Erzsebet Foldi
- Episode of the talk show "Tomorrow" from 1980, featuring director Bob Rosse and choreographer Agnes de Mille
- Interviews with Fosse from 1981 and 1986
- On-set footage
- "Portrait of a Choreographer," a 2007 documentary on Fosse
- "The Soundtrack: Perverting the Standards," a 2007 documentary about the film's music
- Interview with George Benson from 2007, about his song "On Broadway," which opens the film
- Booklet featuring an essay by critic Hilton Als