Saturday Night Fever (1977)
The basic storyTony Manero is an ordinary young man, most days of the week, but in the weekends, at night, he is the king of the dance floor at the local disco. At home it is a constant fight with his family, and his friends have no ambitions or plans for the future.
When the local disco arranges a dance competition with a significant prize for the winner, Tony sees an opportunity to make some money, get out of Brooklyn, and make some progress with his life. He starts to train with the girl Stephanie, who also dreams about getting out of Brooklyn, and who is also an excellent dancer. They do participate in the competition, and Tony's life does change. Not the way he thought it would, though.
How was it?
Still a good movie after all these years. Not a great movie, but still a movie worth watching, more than once. The basic story still works; wanting to be good at something, taking control of your life/destiny, and being willing to put in the effort, to take your talent and make the most of it. The sub-plot about young people doing stupid things and getting into trouble, also still works quite well.
The social realism is still Hollywoods strange version of realism, and the homophobic behavior in the movie was, as far as I know, not a part of the disco culture. I found that slightly annoying. I'm sure it was a part of the catholic culture back then, as much as it appears to be today, so in a way it isn't entirely wrong, just stupid and pointless for the movie and the portrayal of the sub-cultures involved. It was however only a minor part of the movie, and as a whole, it is an entertaining movie with great music, awesome dance moves, and baaad, bad polyester suit and hair cuts.
Rating
★★★★★
118 min.
Color
- Michael Pilgaard