Strictly Ballroom (1992)

Strictly Ballroom is a 1992 Australian romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. The film, which was Luhrmann's first, is the first in his The Red Curtain Trilogy of theatre-motif-related films; the other two are Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!.

Strictly Ballroom is based on a critically acclaimed stage play originally set up in 1984 by Luhrmann and fellow students while he was studying at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney. An expanded version of the play became a success at the Czechoslovakian Youth Drama Festival in Bratislava in 1986, and in 1988 it made successful season at Sydney's Wharf Theatre, where it was seen by Australian music executive Ted Albert and his wife Antoinette. They both loved it, and when Ted Albert soon after set up the film production company M&A Productions with ex-Film Australia producer Tristram Miall, they offered Luhrman to transform his play into a film. He agreed on the condition that he would also get to direct it.

Synopsis

Strictly Ballroom tells the story of an Australian ballroom dancer, Scott Hastings (Paul Mercurio), and his struggle to establish his personal style of dance on his way to win the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dancing Championship. Scott's steps are not strictly ballroom. Scott comes from a family with a history of ballroom dancing and has been training since childhood. Scott's mother Shirley teaches ballroom dancing, and his father Doug meekly handles maintenance chores at the dance studio.

Actors