Strictly Ballroom (1992)
A campy, glossy, colorful, surprising fairy tale, total romance, lots of dancing, and inventive through and through. No, director Baz Luhmann has not pulled off another Moulin Rouge, which is a whole other order of invention and beauty, but this is his first movie, and it's filled with idealism. And some people to root for and to hiss against--you know, heroes and villains.
It could have been tightened up, no doubt--there are times when I was a little impatient even though they were dancing away. But mostly I was happy to watch and wait for the next step toward the big climax.
The two young leads, interestingly, came from nowhere (the perfectly named Paul Mercurio and the understated Tara Morice both in their first films). They've gone on to largely television careers, and in part you appreciate how much Luhmann gets from them. The highly stylized approach helps avoid a need for real acting, per se, but Mercurio in particular really rises to the occasion. The whole affair is Australian, and it feels bright and original the way some of fellow Aussie Peter Weir's films do, or in another sense, Peter Jackson.
If you can summon up any innocence and romance and go for what really clicks here, be swept up and love it.
