Here’s a movie that I know I’ve seen before as a kid, but have not seen in such a long time that it was practically a brand new movie for me. I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it because typically I’m not a fan of dance movies. But this isn’t a typical dance movie and I did enjoy it.
Saturday Night Fever, directed by John Badham, is a coming of age movie about a Brooklyn youth named Tony Manero (played by John Travolta.) His days consist of working at the paint shop, hanging out with friends and dancing at 2001 Odyssey and he is fine with that–until he meets Stephanie (played by Karen Lynn Gorney.) He is attracted to her dancing ability and wants to know her better, but she is searching for something more from life and she’s not sure if he’s part of the picture.
This is particularly important because all his friends and the girls around him around Tony look up to him and want his approval, like Annette (played by Donna Pescow) and Bobby C. (played by Barry Miller). Annette wants so badly to get close to Tony in any way she can–through sex or dancing–but he doesn’t want to get too close because she thinks she is trying to get serious with him. Then there is Bobby C., who looks up to Tony and his friends, but is more reserved than the rest. Bobby gets this girl pregnant and he doesn’t know what to do. He looks to Tony for his guidance, but Tony pretty much blows him off as well. The only person who Tony wants is Stephanie and she keeps him at arm’s length, which frustrates Tony.
Through the movie Tony becomes more disillusioned with his station and life. He realizes he is in a head nowhere job at the paint store and his friends are headed nowhere. Finally the breaking point comes after the dance contest. After watching the other Hispanic couple on the dance floor, he thinks that they were better than he and Stephanie. He loses it, even though Stephanie and he won, because he always thought he was he best dancer. And if he wasn’t the best, there was nothing left for him. Then the death of Bobby seals the deal and he goes to Stephanie and let’s her know that he’s ready to move on in life and wants her friendship to help see it through.
From what it seems from this post, this film is clearly not just a disco glitz and glamour film. This film has substance.
ReplyDeleteThe coming of age story of a young man lies at the heart of what this film is about and is what makes me this film and iconic and relatable to most who watch it.