Ginger Rogers, Katherine Hepburn and Frank Sinatra, fame is associated with glitz and glamour, big parties, more money than you can ever could dream off and millions of adoring fans all screaming your name. But what they don't tell you is that fame can also be associated with a world of no trust, self loathing, and drug abuse, loss of a perspective or reality and heart break. For every rags to riches story, is a slow painful descent from the heavens and the stars into a hell were you constantly face the dark side of humanity. For every Beyonce there is a Marilyn Monroe, for every Clint eastwood there is a Kurt Cobain and for every Jerry Seinfeld there is a Michael Jackson. Fame has the beautiful, yet macabre ability to change some people's lives, and destroy others. So why do we risk so much and seek it so adamantly? Everyone has their own reason for wanting fame, but the most common is our quest for acceptance, and when you're a young teenager in the most populated city on earth, you can still feel more isolated than if you were the only person there.
1980 was the very forefront of the massive boom in coming of age films, which details the lives of young people and their trials and tribulations of the difficult and confusing transition into adulthood whilst trying to recover from pain of watching their childhood end. But whilst later films like Dazed and Confused and American Pie took more of a light hearted and humorous tone, it was Alan Parker who brought us a more realistic, gritty and niche magnifying glass into the lives of teens in New York City. They come from all walks of life, from the poor Bronx to the right upper eastside of Manhattan, however what they all have in common is a whole lot of ambition, dreams and talent and insatiable hunger for fame, but the world is cruel and not everyone has what it takes to make it. Over the course of; Auditions, freshman, sophomore, junior and senior year we follow the lives of; Leroy (Gene Anthony Ray) the hot headed naturally gifted dancer who can't read, Montgomery (Paul McCrane) a ultra serious thespian struggling to come to terms with his homosexuality, Ralph a street wise compulsive liar, Bruno (Lee Curreri) who is by far ahead of his time and lastly Doris a personality less shrinking violet who soon learns to blossom. Besides Doris who seems forced by her mother to pursue a life in the creative arts, the exact motivations for each of the main characters reasons for wanting fame is generally unclear and the film never really explicitly defines them, but as the audience we don't care because in each of these kids we see a little bit of ourselves, and thus will them to success with all our hearts.
Similar to a Robert Altman film we weave effortlessly through the ensembles lives, experiencing their uplifting highs as well as their crushing lows as if we were actually standing right next to them throughout. Warning don't expect any fairy tales and happily ever afters in Fame; there is abortion, exploitation, attempted suicide, racial divides, death and drug abuse in Christopher Gore script that never stops shocking you and sending you on an emotional roller-coaster, as you immerse yourselves in the lives of these teens, laughing and crying as they do and eventually falling in love with them.
Working so expertly with such a young cast of relatively unknowns and producing such a excellent piece of filmmaking, wasn't a flash in the pan or fluke by Alan Parker, because you just have to look back to the toe tapping all kids gangster musical Bugsy Malone as a further demonstration of Parkers ability to work so well and nurture young talent into giving such breath taking performance. In particular the one that stood out to me the most in Fame was Barry Miller as Ralph we was able to pull of the most dynamic and layered character with ease and charm, but never being afraid to lay out his entire soul to the audience. You just have to look at the scene he shares with his mother, sister and preacher in church as an example, a scene absolutely dripping with raw emotion.
I personally was one of those people to fall in love not just with the characters but with the film as a whole because it has the grace of ballerina, the power of a Ballard and the ability to provoke thought like a Shakespearean actor. Fame stands fearless, toe to toe with controversy and bat an eye lid, but it's not serious all the time there is a swimming pool full of fun gushing into every scene; the boys in the toilets trying to see into the girls changing rooms and the spontaneous soul-drenched dance numbers, that gallivanted a whole generation of New Yorkers to risk a beat down and try to pirouette on top of a taxi if you haven't already laughed enough.
Bring him a well deserved BAFTA nomination, Fame sits aptly next Mississippi Burning and American Express as some of Alan's greatest crowning achievements, which helped him win BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, the highest honour the British Film Academy can give any filmmaker in 2013. While the immediate legacy of Fame was the double Oscar Winning sing- along inspiring song named 'Fame' named after the film which won the film an Oscar for best original score and a Oscar for best song for Michael Gore. But what really stands out was the films ability to influence later coming of age films in the likes of Footloose and The Breakfast Club, however it should come as great surprise to know that the film only ranked at #42 on Entertainment Weekly's 2006 list of the "50 Best High School Movies". Shocking!
1980 was the very forefront of the massive boom in coming of age films, which details the lives of young people and their trials and tribulations of the difficult and confusing transition into adulthood whilst trying to recover from pain of watching their childhood end. But whilst later films like Dazed and Confused and American Pie took more of a light hearted and humorous tone, it was Alan Parker who brought us a more realistic, gritty and niche magnifying glass into the lives of teens in New York City. They come from all walks of life, from the poor Bronx to the right upper eastside of Manhattan, however what they all have in common is a whole lot of ambition, dreams and talent and insatiable hunger for fame, but the world is cruel and not everyone has what it takes to make it. Over the course of; Auditions, freshman, sophomore, junior and senior year we follow the lives of; Leroy (Gene Anthony Ray) the hot headed naturally gifted dancer who can't read, Montgomery (Paul McCrane) a ultra serious thespian struggling to come to terms with his homosexuality, Ralph a street wise compulsive liar, Bruno (Lee Curreri) who is by far ahead of his time and lastly Doris a personality less shrinking violet who soon learns to blossom. Besides Doris who seems forced by her mother to pursue a life in the creative arts, the exact motivations for each of the main characters reasons for wanting fame is generally unclear and the film never really explicitly defines them, but as the audience we don't care because in each of these kids we see a little bit of ourselves, and thus will them to success with all our hearts.
Similar to a Robert Altman film we weave effortlessly through the ensembles lives, experiencing their uplifting highs as well as their crushing lows as if we were actually standing right next to them throughout. Warning don't expect any fairy tales and happily ever afters in Fame; there is abortion, exploitation, attempted suicide, racial divides, death and drug abuse in Christopher Gore script that never stops shocking you and sending you on an emotional roller-coaster, as you immerse yourselves in the lives of these teens, laughing and crying as they do and eventually falling in love with them.
Working so expertly with such a young cast of relatively unknowns and producing such a excellent piece of filmmaking, wasn't a flash in the pan or fluke by Alan Parker, because you just have to look back to the toe tapping all kids gangster musical Bugsy Malone as a further demonstration of Parkers ability to work so well and nurture young talent into giving such breath taking performance. In particular the one that stood out to me the most in Fame was Barry Miller as Ralph we was able to pull of the most dynamic and layered character with ease and charm, but never being afraid to lay out his entire soul to the audience. You just have to look at the scene he shares with his mother, sister and preacher in church as an example, a scene absolutely dripping with raw emotion.
I personally was one of those people to fall in love not just with the characters but with the film as a whole because it has the grace of ballerina, the power of a Ballard and the ability to provoke thought like a Shakespearean actor. Fame stands fearless, toe to toe with controversy and bat an eye lid, but it's not serious all the time there is a swimming pool full of fun gushing into every scene; the boys in the toilets trying to see into the girls changing rooms and the spontaneous soul-drenched dance numbers, that gallivanted a whole generation of New Yorkers to risk a beat down and try to pirouette on top of a taxi if you haven't already laughed enough.
Bring him a well deserved BAFTA nomination, Fame sits aptly next Mississippi Burning and American Express as some of Alan's greatest crowning achievements, which helped him win BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, the highest honour the British Film Academy can give any filmmaker in 2013. While the immediate legacy of Fame was the double Oscar Winning sing- along inspiring song named 'Fame' named after the film which won the film an Oscar for best original score and a Oscar for best song for Michael Gore. But what really stands out was the films ability to influence later coming of age films in the likes of Footloose and The Breakfast Club, however it should come as great surprise to know that the film only ranked at #42 on Entertainment Weekly's 2006 list of the "50 Best High School Movies". Shocking!