Flashdance (film)
"Flashdance" is a 1983 film set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that follows the journey of Alex Owens, portrayed by Jennifer Beals. By day, Alex works as a welder, while at night, she showcases her talent as a dancer in a nightclub, all while aspiring to become a professional ballet dancer. The film contrasts the gritty reality of Alex's steel mill job with the aspirational world of classical ballet, highlighting themes of ambition, competition, and personal struggle.
Characterized as a blend of music video and drama, "Flashdance" features a notable soundtrack that includes the Academy Award-winning song "Flashdance . . . What a Feeling." The film gained popularity for its vibrant choreography and innovative production techniques, including striking lighting effects and a memorable water scene. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics who pointed out its contrived plot and underdeveloped characters, "Flashdance" was a commercial success, grossing nearly $95 million.
The film significantly influenced fashion trends in the 1980s, popularizing styles like off-the-shoulder sweatshirts and leg warmers. It also served as a launching pad for several prominent filmmakers and creatives in the industry, solidifying its place in cultural history as a defining film for aspiring dancers and a notable moment in cinematic evolution.
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Flashdance (film)
Identification American film
Director Adrian Lyne
Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer
Date Released April 15, 1983
Flashdance combined elements of the sexually suggestive music video, traditional romance, and 1980’s mainstream feminism to appeal to men and women alike. It was the second highest grossing film released in 1983, narrowly edging out Trading Places for that honor.
Key Figures
Adrian Lyne (1941- ), film directorDon Simpson (1943-1996), film producerJerry Bruckheimer (1945- ), film producer
Flashdance is set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, “a cold world of steel,” where Alex Owens (Jennifer Beals) works as a welder by day and as a nightclub dancer by night, while entertaining the dream of becoming a legitimate ballet dancer. The film depicts her clash with a world of competition, envy, and strenuous work, in which only a privileged few can make it. Visually, the film plays heavily on the juxtaposition of the harsh reality of a steel mill job and the ephemeral and majestic world of classical ballet.
The film was conceived as a mixture of music video and drama. It did not fall within the category of traditional musical, because it had no vocal score. Much of the talent was the work of voice-over and stand-in performers, including French actress Marine Jahan, break-dancer Crazy Legs, and professional gymnast Sharon Shapiro. The music sound track by Phil Ramone and the choreography by Jeffrey Hornadays featured high-tech effects and eroticism to increase audience appeal. The sound track also gained fame for its hit songs, including “Flashdance . . . What a Feeling,” composed by Giorgio Moroder with lyrics by Keith Forsey and sung by Irene Cara, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and “Maniac,” which was also nominated in that category. The film’s lighting and staging effects, including a famous scene in which water splashed down upon Beals at the end of a dance number, won it success among MTV watchers.
Despite—or perhaps because of—all the flashy costumes and the sexual overtones for which it received an “R” rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the movie received bad reviews. Roger Ebert, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, pointed out its artificial contrivances, flashy production numbers, undeveloped characters, and improbable plot. He even accused it of “grabbing a piece of Saturday Night Fever, a slice of Urban Cowboy, a quart of Marty and a 2-pound box of Archie Bunker’s Place.” This negative assessment did not harm the movie at the box office: It took in almost $95 million. Among the films of 1983, only the juggernaut Star Wars sequel The Return of the Jedi surpassed it.
Impact
For many aspiring dancers in their teens, however, Flashdance was the movie that changed their lives. It also affected fashion, beginning the trend of wearing off-the-shoulder sweatshirts and leg warmers, which soon flooded the market. Most significant, the movie became a stepping-stone for a number of filmmakers in the 1980’s. Director Adrian Lyne would later direct Fatal Attraction (1987) and Indecent Proposal (1993). The producers, Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, went on to produce Top Gun (1986) and Beverly Hills Cop (1984), and the screenwriter, Joe Eszterhas, would later write one of Hollywood’s most famous spec scripts, the screenplay for Basic Instinct (1992).
Bibliography
Ebert, Roger. “Flashdance.” Chicago Sun-Times, April 19, 1983.
Grugg, Kevin. “Broadway and Beyond.” Dance Magazine 57 (July, 1983): 104.
McRobbie, Angela. “Fame, Flashdance, and Fantasies of Achievement.” In Fabrications: Costume and the Female Body, edited by Jane Gaines and Charlotte Herzog. New York: Routledge, 1990.