Introduction
If you want to enjoy your free time and relax in the company of your friends or together with your family, there is nothing better than watching a movie. Of course, it has to be a good movie. What is a good movie or film? Different people have different opinions concerning this. As for me personally, I like different kinds of films but this time I am going to analyze a film that can be called a romance film although it combines elements of comedy with those of a romantic story.
This film is titled “Dirty Dancing” and it is one of the best films I have ever watched. I state this not because I am an admirer of romantic comedy or somebody from the cast of the film. No, the point is that “Dirty Dancing” is a film that was very controversial at the time when it was screened and still is a nice story about the people who did not pay attention to what others said. They just did what their hearts and souls told them to do and danced as their feet danced. So, let us consider the film “Dirty Dancing” in all its aspects through the prism of arts, including plot, screening techniques, the cast of the actors that played in it, and the influence it had upon the people of the epoch of 1980s.
Plot Summary
The plot of the movie is the story of two young people. One of them was a dancing instructor in Catskill, a resort in New York, and another one was a young teenage girl who came to the town for rest together with her parents. The dancing instructor, John Castle played by Patrick Swayze, is forbidden to have any relationships with his students – visitors of the resort. But having seen a young Baby Houseman, played by Jennifer Grey, he falls in love and decides to break the rules he has to obey.
Their relations develop with the accompaniment of dance that is the leitmotif of the film. This dance is the purest expression of love and passion between two people. As Baby’s parents come to know about her romance with Johnny, they protest but she keeps meeting with him. By the accident, Baby becomes a dancing partner of Johnny, as a feel-up for his former partner who could not dance because of being pregnant.
The unity between Baby and Johnny develops, and soon lessons of dancing turn into meetings of two people who are in love with each other and reach their peak with the sexual union between the heroes. Understanding that Baby is who he needs, Johnny resists her parents and finally wins their respect and consent for Baby to be with him. The final scene of the movie is a mass dance during which Baby and Johnny perform a figure that Baby was for a long time afraid of – she allows Johnny to lift her in the air and feels no fear at the moment.
Analysis
The film directed by Emile Ardolino and screened in 1987 is a nice romantic story that incorporates all the typical features of this genre. “Dirty Dancing” develops according to the rules of the genre – there is the beginning of the story, its development, and the logical climax of the plot which is typically happy in this kind of film (Sporre, 2006). The beginning is the episode when Baby Houseman comes to Catskill with her family and meets Johnny.
The development is the whole world of events and emotions that took place between the two young people. In the development, we can see how their relationships made progress from being strangers to falling deeply in love for the rest of their lives. Simultaneously, the picture of their difficult relations with the surrounding people, like Baby’s parents or Johnny’s employees, develops proving once again that there is nothing perfect in this world. And, finally, the climax of the film is reached when the two perform a marvelous dance in front of the audience they were afraid of before. Johnny and Baby are not afraid of their prejudice or opinions; they just dance expressing what their hearts feel.
There are also certain symbols hidden in the movie under consideration. The whole plotline is an allusion to the hero’s journey famous in literature since Homer’s Odyssey appeared (Sporre, 2006). These symbols show how the hero, Baby Houseman, went the road from being a child obedient to her parents to a lady that found her love and turned out to be ready for decision-making herself.
The episode, when Baby is invited for the first time to the party where Johnny performed is a certain breaking point that changed the whole story and lives of many people drastically. This episode was the moment when Baby’s adult life began although she did not even guess it. Since that moment she was not afraid to take responsibility and to protest openly against her parents’ will. The final dance, when Johnny lifted her in the air symbolizes the success Baby reached in her pursuits and the universal recognition of her right to independence and love.
As can be seen from the title, the main topic of the film is dance, and this dance was very provocative as for the times it was invented in. 1980s were still very conservative because the dances performed in the film and considered “dirty” then, are now considered usual, even dull for some people. The actors performed very privately, sometimes absolutely sexual movements with the wide use of lifts, hand balances, and supports. But the dances from the film have become classics and are very popular nowadays, as well as the music from “Dirty Dancing”. The soundtrack CD from “Dirty Dancing” became platinum and such songs as “Time of My Life” became real hits even for those who did not watch the film itself.
Conclusion
To sum up, let us state that in this essay we achieved the set goals. We considered the film “Dirty Dancing” in all its aspects and examined not only the filming techniques, casts, playing of actors but also the plot of the film briefly and the symbolism this film brings to people. The film that makes people cry and laugh in a second is a real masterpiece of the world’s cinema. It is sure to bring exclusively positive emotions.
Works Cited
Sporre, D. J., Reality Through the Arts. Prentice Hall; 6th edition, 2006.