| Flashdance | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Adrian Lyne |
| Screenplay by | |
| Story by | Tom Hedley |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Donald Peterman |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | Giorgio Moroder |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 97 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7 million |
| Box office | $201.5 million |
Flashdance is a 1983 Americanromantic dramadance film directed byAdrian Lyne and starringJennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer, Alex Owens, who aspires to become a professionalballerina, alongsideMichael Nouri, who plays her boyfriend and the owner of thesteel mill where she works by day inPittsburgh. It was the first collaboration of producersDon Simpson andJerry Bruckheimer, and the presentation of some sequences in the style ofmusic videos was an influence on other 1980s films includingFootloose,Purple Rain, andTop Gun, Simpson and Bruckheimer's most famous production. It was also one of Lyne's first major film releases, building ontelevision commercials.[2] Alex's elaborate dance sequences were shot usingbody doubles (Beals's main double was the uncredited French actressMarine Jahan, while abreakdance move was doubled by the male dancerCrazy Legs).[3]
The film opened to negative reviews by professionalcritics, includingRoger Ebert, who panned it as "great sound and flashdance, signifying nothing" (and eventually placed it on his "most hated" list).[4] It was a surprise box-office success, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 1983 in the United States.[5] Its worldwide box-office gross exceeded $200 million.[6] Thesoundtrack, compiled byGiorgio Moroder, spawned several hit songs, including "Maniac" (performed byMichael Sembello), and theAcademy Award–winning "Flashdance... What a Feeling", which was written for the film by Moroder, with lyrics byKeith Forsey and the singerIrene Cara.Flashdance is also often remembered for itsfilm poster featuring Beals sporting asweatshirt with a large neck hole (according to the actress, her look in the scene came about by accident after she simply cut a large hole at the top of one that had shrunk in the wash).
Alex Owens is an eighteen-year-oldwelder at asteel mill inPittsburgh, who lives with her malepit bull dog, Grunt, in a converted warehouse. She aspires to become a professional dancer, but has no formal dance training and works as a nightly cabaret performer at Mawby's, a neighborhood bar and grill.
Lacking family, Alex bonds with her coworkers at Mawby's, some of whom also aspire to greater artistic achievements. Jeanie, a waitress, is training to be afigure skater, while her boyfriend, short-order cook Richie, hopes to become astand-up comic.
One night, Alex catches the eye of customer Nick Hurley, the owner of the steel mill where she works. After learning that she is one of his employees, he pursues her on the job, though Alex turns down his advances. Alex is also approached by Johnny C., who wants her to dance at his nearbystrip club, Zanzibar.
After seeking counsel from her mentor, retiredballerina Hanna Long, Alex attempts to apply to the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory. She becomes intimidated by the scope of the application process, which includes listing all prior dance experience and education, so she leaves without applying. Leaving Mawby's one evening, Richie and Alex are assaulted by Johnny C. and his bodyguard, Cecil. Nick intervenes, and after following Alex home, the two begin a relationship.
In a skating competition, Jeanie falls twice during her performance and sits defeated on the ice before being helped away. Discouraged by her failure and the departure of Richie, who has decided to try his luck in Los Angeles, Jeanie begins dating Johnny C. and working as one of his strippers at Zanzibar. After finding out about Jeanie's situation from Jake, the owner of Mawby's, Alex finds her and drags her out of Zanzibar. Jeanie is angry, but she soon realizes her mistake.
After seeing Nick with a woman at the ballet one night, Alex throws a rock through a window of his house, only to discover that it was hisex-wife, whom he was meeting for a charity function. Alex and Nick reconcile, and she gains the courage to apply to the Conservatory. He uses his connections with the arts council to get Alex an audition, as she does not have formal dance training.
Upon discovering this, Alex is furious with Nick because she did not get the opportunity based on her own merit, so she decides not to go to the audition. After the sudden death of Hanna and seeing the results of others' failed dreams, Alex becomes despondent over her future, but following a conversation with another dancer at Mawby's, who encourages her to persevere, Alex has a change of heart and goes through with the audition after all.
At the audition, Alex falters, but begins again and successfully completes a dance number composed of moves that she has studied and practiced, includingbreakdancing which she has seen on the streets of Pittsburgh. The board responds favorably, and she joyously emerges from the Conservatory to find Nick and Grunt waiting for her with a bouquet of roses.
In April 1980,Thomas Hedley sold the film idea for development to Casablanca, aLos Angeles production company, for $300,000 and 5% of the net, as reported inThe Globe and Mail. Hedley based the concept on the lives of exotic dancers he had met while editor ofToronto Life magazine such as Gina Healey and Maureen Marder. Marder and Healey were paid $2,500 each for their life stories.[7][8]
Hedley's script was eventually sold toPeter Guber andJon Peters forPolyGram Pictures, who took the script with them toParamount Pictures. However, the latter studio had less confidence in the film and placed it into turnaround for two years. Development of the film resumed whenDon Simpson, who believed the film could be successful, resigned from his executive post at Paramount Pictures to co-produce the film withJerry Bruckheimer in their first collaboration. They got Paramount to greenlight the film by hiringJoe Eszterhas to rewrite Hedley's script.[7]
Adrian Lyne was not the first choice asdirector ofFlashdance.David Cronenberg had turned down an offer to direct as he felt he would have destroyed the film, as hadBrian De Palma, who instead chose to directScarface (1983). At the time, Lyne's background was primarily in directingtelevision commercials, such as his 1970s UK commercials forBrutus Jeans (which may conceivably be seen as anticipating the visuals and style ofFlashdance).[2][9] Lyne agreed to direct because he wanted to establish enough confidence from studios in his directorial skills to get his next film9½ Weeks (1986) approved.[10] Executives at Paramount were unsure about the film's potential and sold 25% of the rights prior to its release.
Three candidates,Jennifer Beals,Demi Moore andLeslie Wing, were the finalists for the role of Alex Owens. Two different stories exist regarding how Beals was chosen. One states that then-Paramount presidentMichael Eisner asked women secretaries at the studio to select their favorite after viewing screen tests. The other: the film's screenwriter Eszterhas claims that Eisner asked "two hundred of the most macho men on the [Paramount] lot, Teamsters and gaffers and grips ... 'I want to know which of these three young women you'd most want to fuck.'"[11][12][13]
The role of Nick Hurley was originally offered toKiss founding memberGene Simmons,[14] who turned it down because it would conflict with his "demon" image.Kevin Costner, a struggling actor at the time, came very close for the role of Nick, which went toMichael Nouri.[14]
Flashdance was the first success of a number of filmmakers who became successful in the 1980s and beyond. The film was the first collaboration between Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, who went on to produceBeverly Hills Cop (1984) andTop Gun (1986). Eszterhas received his second screen credit forFlashdance, while Lyne went on to direct9½ Weeks (1986),Fatal Attraction (1987),Indecent Proposal (1993), andLolita (1997).Lynda Obst, who developed the original story outline, went on to produceAdventures in Babysitting (1987),The Fisher King (1991), andSleepless in Seattle (1993).
The film was shot between October 18, 1982, and December 30, 1982, inPittsburgh and Los Angeles.
The dimly litcinematography andmontage-styleediting are due in part to the fact that most of Jennifer Beals' dancing in the film was performed by abody double.[15] Her main dance double is the French actressMarine Jahan,[16][17][18][19] while thebreakdancing that Alex performs in the audition sequence at the end of the film was doubled by the male dancerCrazy Legs.[20] The shot of Alex diving through the air in slow motion during the audition sequence was performed bySharon Shapiro, who was a professionalgymnast.[20] The producers of the film stated they had made no secret of having used a double for Beals, and that Jahan's name did not appear because Paramount Pictures shortened the closing credits.[15] Marine Jahan was told that her involvement was hidden because "they didn't want to break the magic of the film".[21][22]
Flashdance is often remembered for thesweatshirt with a large neck hole that Beals wore on the poster advertising the film. Beals said that the look of the sweatshirt came about by accident when it shrank in the wash and she cut out a large hole at the top so that she could wear it again.[23]
Much of the film was shot in locations aroundPittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[7] The opening sequence of scenes with Alex riding her bicycle starts in theFineview neighborhood.[24] The last scene of the sequence shows Alex riding east over theSmithfield Street Bridge, which is a continuity error. Alex's apartment was located in theSouth Side neighborhood.[24] When Alex goes to visit Hanna Long (Lilia Skala), she is seen riding one of theDuquesne Incline cable cars.[25] Hanna's apartment is located at 2100 Sidney Street at the southeast corner of South 21st Street.[25]
The fictional Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory was filmed inside the lobby and in front of Carnegie Music Hall, a part of theCarnegie Museum of Art, located near the campuses ofCarnegie Mellon University and theUniversity of Pittsburgh in theOakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh.[24]
The interior of Alex's apartment was filmed in Los Angeles at what was the Feit Electric Building onLos Angeles Street.[25] Additionally, the set for Mawby's was located in downtown Los Angeles.[7] The ice skating rink scene on which Jeanie Szabo (Sunny Johnson) performs was filmed at Culver Ice Rink inCulver City, California.[26]
"Flashdance... What a Feeling" was performed byIrene Cara, who also sang the title song for the similar 1980 filmFame. The music for "Flashdance... What a Feeling" was composed byGiorgio Moroder, and the lyrics were written by Cara andKeith Forsey. The song won anAcademy Award for Best Original Song, as well as aGolden Globe Award for Best Original Song and numerous other awards. It also reached number one on theBillboard Hot 100 in May 1983. Despite the song's title, the word "Flashdance" itself is not heard in the lyrics. The song is used in the opening title sequence of the film, and is the music Alex uses in her dance audition routine at the end of the film.
Another song used in the film, "Maniac", was also nominated for an Academy Award. It was written byMichael Sembello and Dennis Matkosky. A popularurban legend holds that the song was originally written for the 1980horror filmManiac, and that lyrics about a killer on the loose were rewritten so the song could be used inFlashdance. The legend is discredited in the special features of the film'sDVD release, which reveal that the song was written for the film, although only two complete lyrics ("Just a steel town girl on a Saturday night" and "She's a maniac") were available when filming commenced. Like the title song, it reached number one on theBillboard Hot 100 in September 1983.[27][28]
Other songs in the film include "Lady, Lady, Lady", performed byJoe Esposito, "Imagination" performed byLaura Branigan, and "I'll Be Here Where the Heart Is", performed byKim Carnes.
Thesoundtrack album ofFlashdance sold 700,000 copies during its first two weeks on sale and has gone on to sell over six million copies in the U.S. alone. In 1984, the album won theGrammy Award forBest Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special at the26th Annual Grammy Awards.
Flashdance was released in the United States on April 15, 1983.[7] On April 14, 1983, the night before the general release of the film, a special benefit premiere ofFlashdance was shown at the Warner Theater in Pittsburgh. It was the last film at the theater. Several months later it was torn down to make way for theWarner Centre, a retail and office complex.[29]
Flashdance has been issued originally onVHS andLaserdisc with aParamount Home EntertainmentDVD release on October 8, 2002, and a Special Collector's Edition DVD in 2010.[30][31]It was first released onBlu-ray Disc on August 13, 2013, byWarner Bros. with seven special features including a 15-minute featurette, "The History ofFlashdance", a 9-minute featurette, "The Look ofFlashdance", "Flashdance: The Choreography" and a teaser andtheatrical trailers.[32]The film was re-released on Blu-ray in the U.S. on May 19, 2020, by Paramount Presents with a new 4K remaster and packaging. It includes a new Filmmakers Focus interview with the director but excludes a few special features from the previous Blu-ray release.[33]
The film received negative reviews from critics. OnRotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 37% based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 4.80/10. The site's consensus is: "All style and very little substance,Flashdance boasts eye-catching dance sequences—and benefits from an appealing performance from Jennifer Beals—but its narrative is flat-footed".[34]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 39 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[35]
Roger Ebert placed it on his list of most hated films,[4] and in giving the film 1.5 out of 4 stars in his review, stated: "Jennifer Beals shouldn't feel bad. She is a natural talent, she is fresh and engaging here, and only needs to find an agent with a natural talent for turning down scripts".[36] In his review for theChicago Sun-Times, Ebert said "IfFlashdance had spent just a little more effort getting to know the heroine of its story, and a little less time trying to rip offSaturday Night Fever, it might have been a much better film."[36]Variety compared the film to a series of music videos, "WatchingFlashdance is pretty much like looking atMTV for 96 minutes. Virtually plotless, exceedingly thin on characterization and sociologically laughable, pic at least lives up to its title by offering an anthology of extraordinarily flashy dance numbers."[37]Janet Maslin ofThe New York Times wrote: "With a score by Giorgio Moroder, and with ingenious costumes that are utterly au courant,Flashdance contains such dynamic dance scenes that it's a pity there's a story here to bog them down."[38]
In a 1984 essay for the journalJump Cut, critic Kathryn Kalinak questioned the characterization of Alex: "How could an 18 year-old woman land a skilled labor job as a welder in the unionized steel industry of an economically depressed union town? ... Not only are any other women missing in the factory, so are employees, male or female, under 30."[39]
| Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | Best Cinematography | Donald Peterman | Nominated | [40] |
| Best Film Editing | Bud S. Smith andWalt Mulconery | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Song | "Flashdance... What a Feeling" Music byGiorgio Moroder; Lyrics byKeith Forsey andIrene Cara | Won | ||
| "Maniac" Music and Lyrics byMichael Sembello and Dennis Matkosky | Nominated | |||
| American Cinema Editors Awards | Best Edited Feature Film | Bud S. Smith and Walt Mulconery | Nominated | |
| Blue Ribbon Awards | Best Foreign Film | Adrian Lyne | Won | |
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Editing | Bud S. Smith and Walt Mulconery | Won | [41] |
| Best Score for a Film | Giorgio Moroder | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Song Written for a Film | "Flashdance... What a Feeling" Music by Giorgio Moroder; Lyrics by Keith Forsey and Irene Cara | Nominated | ||
| Best Sound | Don Digirolamo,Robert Glass,Robert Knudson, andJames E. Webb | Nominated | ||
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Nominated | [42] | |
| Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Jennifer Beals | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Score – Motion Picture | Giorgio Moroder | Won | ||
| Best Original Song – Motion Picture | "Flashdance... What a Feeling" Music by Giorgio Moroder; Lyrics by Keith Forsey and Irene Cara | Won | ||
| "Maniac" Music and Lyrics by Michael Sembello and Dennis Matkosky | Nominated | |||
| Golden Raspberry Awards | Worst Screenplay | Screenplay byTom Hedley andJoe Eszterhas; Story by Tom Hedley | Nominated | [43] |
| Grammy Awards | Album of the Year | Flashdance: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture Various Artists and Giorgio Moroder | Nominated | [44] |
| Record of the Year | "Flashdance... What a Feeling" – Irene Cara and Giorgio Moroder | Nominated | ||
| "Maniac" –Phil Ramone and Michael Sembello | Nominated | |||
| Song of the Year | "Maniac" – Dennis Matkosky and Michael Sembello | Nominated | ||
| Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male | "Maniac" – Michael Sembello | Nominated | ||
| Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female | "Flashdance... What a Feeling" – Irene Cara | Won | ||
| Best Pop Instrumental Performance | "Love Theme fromFlashdance" –Helen St. John | Nominated | ||
| Best Instrumental Composition | "Love Theme fromFlashdance" – Giorgio Moroder | Won | ||
| Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special | Flashdance: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture Michael Boddicker, Irene Cara,Kim Carnes,Doug Cotler, Keith Forsey, Richard Gilbert,Jerry Hey, Duane Hitchings,Craig Krampf, Ronald Magness, Dennis Matkosky, Giorgio Moroder, Phil Ramone, Michael Sembello andShandi Sinnamon | Won | ||
| Hochi Film Awards | Best International Picture | Adrian Lyne | Won | |
| Japan Academy Prize | Outstanding Foreign Language Film | Nominated | ||
| NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture | Jennifer Beals | Won | |
| National Music Publishers' Association | Best Song in a Movie | Irene Cara | Won | |
| People's Choice Awards | Favorite Theme/Song from a Motion Picture | "Flashdance... What a Feeling" | Won | |
| Satellite Awards | Best DVD Extras | Nominated | [45] | |
The film is recognized byAmerican Film Institute in these lists:
There were discussions about a sequel, but the film was never made. Beals turned down an offer to appear in a sequel, saying: "I've never been drawn to something by virtue of how rich or famous it will make me. I turned down so much money, and my agents were just losing their minds."[47]
In March 2001, aBroadway musical version was proposed with new songs byGiorgio Moroder, but failed to materialize.[48] In July 2008, a stage musical adaptationFlashdance The Musical premiered at theTheatre Royal inPlymouth, England. Thebook is co-written byTom Hedley, who created the story outline for the original film, and thechoreography is byArlene Phillips.[49]
In October 2020, Paramount announced plans to reboot the film as a TV series forParamount+.[50]
Jennifer Beals' performance started her reputation as alesbian icon.[51]
Flashdance is not amusical in the traditional sense as none of the characters sing or dance, although the Alex character is portrayed as an amateur dancer, but rather the songs are presented in the style of self-containedmusic videos. Its success has been attributed in part to the 1981 launch of thecable channel MTV (Music Television) since it was the first feature film to exploit the new popularity of music videos effectively.[52] By excerpting segments of the film and running them as music videos on MTV, the studio benefited from extensive free promotion, establishing the new medium as an important marketing tool for films.[53] In the mid-1980s, it became almost obligatory to release a music video to promote a major motion picture—even if the film was not especially suited for one.[54]
Flashdance was inspired by the real-life story of Maureen Marder, a construction worker/welder by day and dancer by night at Gimlets, aToronto strip club.[8] Like Alex Owens in the film, she aspired to enroll in a prestigious dance school. Tom Hedley wrote the original story outline forFlashdance, and on December 6, 1982, Marder signed a release document giving Paramount Pictures the right to portray her life story on screen, for which she was given a one-off payment of $2,300.Flashdance is estimated to have grossed more than $200 million worldwide. In June 2006, theU.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit inSan Francisco affirmed a lower court's ruling that Marder gave up her rights to the film when she signed the release document in 1982. The panel of three judges stated in its ruling: "Though in hindsight the agreement appears to be unfair to Marder—she only received $2,300 in exchange for a release of all claims relating to a movie that grossed over $150 million—there is simply no evidence that her consent was obtained byfraud,deception,misrepresentation,duress orundue influence." The court also noted that Marder'sattorney had been present when she signed the document.[55]
In 2003, following the use of dance routines from the film byJennifer Lopez in her music video "I'm Glad" (directed byDavid LaChapelle), Marder sued Lopez,Sony Corporation (the makers of the music video) and Paramount in an attempt to gain acopyright interest in the film. Although Lopez argued that her video for "I'm Glad" was intended as a tribute toFlashdance, Sony settled a copyright infringement lawsuit out of court for the use of dance routines and other story material from the film in the video.[56][57]
Based on the terms of his deal with Casablanca, Hedley came out $8 million richer. The Zabols, however, received neither credit nor payment nor were their slides ever returned. Meanwhile, Gina Healey and Maureen Marder were paid $2,300 each for signing away their life stories to Paramount and agreeing never to talk about their involvement...And this time, Gina Healey, Maureen Marder, and the Zabols are refusing to keep quiet about its backstory, despite the risk of litigation.
It seems that she didn't get credit for her work because the studio didn't have to. It was either never required in the contract she signed