SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS

THE DANCER UPSTAIRS (2002)

Hey, everybody! And welcome to a long-awaited Throwback Review! Y’know, everytime I have done Throwback Reviews, it’s been for films with which the American public is very familiar. But, because I like trying new things, I decided to cover a film that a lot of people might not know about: The Dancer Upstairs, the directorial debut of Academy Award-nominated actor, John Malkovich. The reason I decided to do this film is because it has a very special place in my heart…which I shall get into after I explain the plot.

Based on the novel by Nicholas Shakespeare (appropriate name for a writer), The Dancer Upstairs tells the story of Detective Agustin Rejas (Javier Bardem), who hunting down a mysterious revolutionary named President Ezequiel. While that is going on, Rejas himself is falling in love with his daughter’s ballet teacher, Yolanda (Laura Morante). But soon, Rejas discovers that Yolanda may not be what he thought she was. And no, I will not reveal any more than that.

Now, to address the elephant in the room: the reason as to why this film is so special to me. There is a scene in the film where Yolanda is dancing to a piano-heavy cover of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” by American pianist Yul Anderson…

My uncle.

That’s right. John Malkovich used a song cover by my uncle and put it in his film. Just to show you, here are some pictures of my uncle with John Malkovich and Bob Dylan, just for good measure.

Also, here’s a little snippet of the audio commentary for The Dancer Upstairs where John Malkovich talks about the music for that scene.

However, that is not the only reason to enjoy the film. One of the things I really enjoyed about the movie was the cinematography. DP Jose Luis Alcaine has made great use of the camera to help tell the story visually. Two great examples come to mind. The first is when we meet Rejas; before we see his face, we see him stacking up three books, the first about democracy, the second about Simon Bolivar, and the third To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Right in that moment, we are introduced to Bardem’s character without any use of dialogue. The second example is a shot that happens at the end of the film, when Bardem’s character is watching his daughter dance. Without giving too much away, Bardem is reminded of some emotional pain when he watches the dance, and there is an extreme close up on his face as we watch him run the gamut of emotions. Not only is that great cinematography from Alcaine, but it also some great acting on Javier Bardem’s part.

Another aspect of the cinematography which I enjoyed was how it held on certain shots for long periods of time (or the long take, as it is called). After watching so many modern films with quick editing (that I have taken to calling “ADHD editing”), it’s nice to see a film that lets the shots linger, building up a sense of atmosphere, which works well for a crime thriller film like this.

Another positive element of the film is the acting, particularly from Bardem and Morante when they are together onscreen. I have no problem believing that these two people are really falling in love because their chemistry is so believable. They share their life stories, they are vulnerable to each other, etc. Which is why it is so sad to see the direction in which their love story goes; again, I will not give away how it ends.

I would say that my only problem with the film is that it’s a little on the long side. And I know that sounds like a weird problem to have, but to me, this felt like a story that could have been told in maybe an hour and fifty minutes, tops. But then again, this film Is a crime thriller/allegory for Maoist invasion of Peru during the 80s/love story, so maybe it needed to be a little longer to fit all of those elements in.

In all honesty, that is my only hangup with the film. This was a worthy directorial debut for John Malkovich, and I hope he considers taking on some more directing gigs in the future. As for my recommendation on whether or not you should see it? Well, keep in mind that this is one of those “art house” films (which should be fairly obvious, considering that the distributor is Fox Searchlight Pictures), so it’s definitely not for everybody. But, hey, if you’re a film geek like I am, then I’d say check it out!

And that's my Throwback Review for today! Stay tuned for my review of X-Men: Apocalypse!