Review of All That Jazz (1979) by Noel V — 05 Feb 2010

A great film--not perhaps as profound as Fellini's original, but unlike other remakes/reworkings it strikes out on its own direction, through the world of dance.

Was looking through the special features of All That Jazz and all of Fosse's collaborators--many choreographers turned directors, many big names on stage, but none of them mastered both stage AND film the way Fosse did. And he's one of the select few that is both a great director AND great choreographer.

One of them mentioned what he thought was the secret to the Fosse style--that Fosse wasn't about the beat or movement but about the reason behind the movement, which was part of a larger effect, which in turn was part of an overall narrative. Fosse could hold the larger picture in his head no matter how he jiggled the disparate parts--that's why his choreography was so coherent, so memorable. That's why he's great.

And I suspect that's his secret as a filmmaker too. He knew he could break film down to its separate shots, the way a dance can be broken down to its separate movements, and with the entire film sequence in mind, he could confidently build it up again, from any number of parts, from different takes, from a different assembly, from any variation of any element, and it would tell the story he wanted it to tell. He could chop up, say, a man stretching out his left arm--chop it into any number of shots, from any angle, then put it together so that you could see the movement complete in your head no matter how he assembled it. He could transmit that movement straight from his head to yours, no matter what steps (choreographing, shooting, editing) took place in between. That's his magic.