By MAX OSSENTJUK
“No, nothing I ever do is good enough. Not beautiful enough, it's not funny enough, it's not deep enough, it's not anything enough. Now, when I see a rose, that's perfect. I mean, that's perfect. I want to look up to God and say, "How the hell did you do that? And why the hell can't I do that?"
Depression, addiction, show business all through the cigarette smoke and pill bottles of Joe Gideon. Directed by one of broadway's greatest artists Bob Fosse, All That Jazz is reminiscent of movies like 8 1/2, but its use of choreography and the beautiful hardships of broadway molds it into something completely unique.
What Fosse does with the lighting, camerawork, and set design is a masterclass in itself, but the editing and performance by Roy Scheider stand out more than anything else in the movie. Every shot feels like a hallucination. Everything happening to Joe we are directly in with him, but at the same time feel completely disconnected and can’t tell if it’s really happening.
Fosse knows exactly what he’s doing in every frame. He takes his time but still everything moves with precision and ease. The last 40 or so minutes are spent entirely on Joe's death and it’s executed so perfectly it makes any small discrepancies in quality so minuscule.
The dialogue of the movie adds to the rugged feel of our drug addicted protagonist, but it's the horrific beauty of the choreography that allows this movie to shine. All the dance numbers go on for much longer than they would in a musical and the reason is because the dancing is telling the story.
Fosse has an ability to add so much nuance to choreography that no one else in his industry has ever come close to. Roger Ebert says “Fosse's 1979 showbiz drama is an especially rich source for discussion because it jumps between past and present and memory and fantasy, and in so doing, collects the history of narrative film editing in one feature.” The storytelling that mixes visions and reality makes the feelings of Gideon reflect onto us in a very interesting way. “It's one of my very favorite movies, period.”
Fosse had already cemented himself as a legend that will forever be studied and admired, but All That Jazz has bolstered his legacy even further.