Sometimes a film is utterly formulaic and predictable and yet it still it manages to surprise you.
I watched
the StreetDance trailer a few hours ago and got so over-excited that I
ended up watching the film all over again. Such is the power of two different
worlds of dance coming together…
When
Carly’s boyfriend, Jay, the leader of her street dance crew, announces he's taking some time out, she decides to get them ready for the national Street Dance Championships
herself. But with no money for rehearsal space, they’re left at a loose end. Chance encounter sees Carly deliver a sandwich to Helena (Charlotte Rampling), the director of a top-class
ballet school who feels her students have lost their passion. Helena is impressed by Carly and offers her crew unlimited use of the studio, but on the condition that they include her ballet
dancers in their routine.
Conflict
ensues between the two disparate groups but perhaps they have more in common
than they think. Will Jay come back? Will Carly and classical dancer, Tomas,
ever see eye to eye? And who can predict what will happen at the Street Dance
Championships? (Obviously, all of us, but don’t let that put you off.)
StreetDance
(2010) was the first British film to be shot in 3-D. I’ve only ever seen
the small-screen 2-D version but it didn’t need any extra dimensions or
razzmatazz to make me fall in love with its high-energy dance sequences and charming
underdog story.
Moves! |
It’s a testament
to the filmmakers that they didn't get carried away with their brave new
technology and that other elements of the film remain as strong as they do.
Admittedly, you can see that a couple of the scenes - in particular, a
food fight in the cafeteria - have been deliberately included for their 3-D impact, but
who doesn't love a food fight? Screenwriter, Jane English, sets the perfect
tone (British audiences may know her work on excellent TV teen-dramas Sugar Rush and As If) and UK viewers will also recognise winning acts from
Britain’s Got Talent, including George Sampson, Flawless and Diversity.
The lovely
Nichola Burley plays Carly. I seem to be at a stage in my life where, rather
boringly, I scrutinise lead female characters and
question whether I would be happy for my young nieces to take them on as role
models. Carly is a definite tick in this box - she doubts herself and makes
mistakes but she’s got determination and works hard to try to lead her team to achieve
their dream. And pleasingly, although Carly's story involves romantic
entanglements, her love interests aren’t the drive behind her journey.
Not
everything in the film is perfect. It’s never quite clear why Helena is ordering lunch from Carly’s shop (do ballerinas eat baguettes?) and I had to
stifle a chuckle at the huge bare-brick loft apartments that struggling
sandwich-maker Carly and some of the other characters live in (“college fees don’t leave much left over for
fancy apartments…” Oh f**k off. It’s amazing.) But really this is all part
of a grand tradition of cheesy dance films and just adds to the charm.
Carly and the lovely Tomas exchange words. But will she go back to Jay? |
Although I
have no coordination and can barely manage to clap in time, StreetDance took me
off to an exciting world of dancing; it was pure enjoyment. And that's why so
many films are formulaic – because when the formula actually works, it’s
fantastic. Sometimes a film’s parts all slot against each other, like the tiny cogs in a wristwatch, and perfectly align; so that when they do, you get
something that is like StreetDance: joyful, fun and thoroughly life-affirming.
For more information, visit StreetDance's official IMDB page: www.imdb.com/title/tt1447972
For more information, visit StreetDance's official IMDB page: www.imdb.com/title/tt1447972