Ballroom dancing is brought to the ghetto in Take The Lead, a "patronising" drama by first-time director Liz Freidlander. Antonio Banderas stars as a French dance teacher (with a Spanish accent) who whips the young roughnecks into shape. It was a formula that amused some critics but stultified most. The paying public were similarly divided, giving it a brief look-in during the pre-summer lull.
Steps To Screen
"Life is a dance," proclaims the real-life Pierre Dulaine in a profile featurette. He reflects on being bullied at school during which time he turned to dancing for relief. He's a much more flamboyant character than the way Banderas portrays him, but the actor insists that he spent a lot of time in his company prior to the shoot and learnt that real dancing is "between the steps".
Another featurette gives the floor to Dulaine's students, including Rob Brown (Rock) who explains that he got his big break on Finding Forrester because he needed to pay his cell phone bill and tried to swing some work as an extra. For his onscreen girlfriend Yaya DeCosta, film acting is a new experience. She talks about her background in dance and allows us a glimpse of her casting tape. The final featurette introduces director Liz Friedlander who chats briefly about wanting to make "a stylised documentary". Later, composers Swizz & Ziggy explain how they fused classical tunes with urban beats for the film's soundtrack. It all adds up to a sprawling but cursory look at how this film evolved from script to screen.
Seven deleted scenes are mostly static moments lifted from the opening act of the film. In an optional commentary, Freidlander and editor Robert Ivison explain that they were excised because the film was taking too long to find its feet and, as the director puts it, too much explanation "cheapens the story". Among the footage we see Banderas do a semi-comic turn on "how not to be a punk-ass" while walking down the street in New York.
Finding The Beat
Director and editor provide decent commentary for the movie. Friedlander reveals that she cribbed the opening sequence from the U2 video Walk On, which she herself directed. As the minutes pass, it becomes clear just how influential her music video background was, ask the actors to look directly into the camera during the dance scenes. Although it's deemed "a cardinal sin", these shots gave her the dynamism she wanted. Meanwhile Ivison talks about the difficulties of cutting dialogue against music and using techniques like wiping from one scene to the next to keep the rhythm tight. The commentary is the best insight you'll get into the making of the movie, but even so, it feels scattered.
Finally, a multi-angle presentation of the tango sequence featuring Banderas and ballroom expert Katya Virshilas is redundant because you cannot flit between the four angles to get close up to the action. In all, this DVD is quite patchy with a lot of wadding to cover for a lack of behind-the-scenes coverage.
EXTRA FEATURES
Take The Lead is released on DVD on Monday 11th September.
