All That Jazz

1 9 7 9 (USA)

Director Bob Fosse's partly autobiographical, self-indulgent, but occasionally brilliant musical had a Fellini-like vision of the life and death of a top choreographer (Roy Scheider).

It's the story of a self-destructive Broadway director/choreographer, his loves, obsessive work, and ultimate disintegration. Despite the adolescent shallowness of the central character, the overall production is completely absorbing. A strange but potent cocktail of whiplash choreography, erotica and open-heart surgery, it concluded with the apposite production number Bye Bye Love(life).

The breathtaking dance numbers are brilliantly staged, and Scheider's performance is outstanding.