The White Hat Guide to Strictly Ballroom

This was the first film by Baz Luhrrman to gain international attention and is great fun to watch and re-watch. It follows the fortunes of a talented young ballroom dancer (played by Paul Mercurio) who wants to introduce dance steps that are not "strictly ballroom". Surrounded by a menagerie of officials, family members and others all placing pressure on him to team up with the right dancing partner and win at the Pan Pacific Championships, we are whisked through scenes full of glitter and glitz and plastic smiles and of course lots of first rate dancing. There is of course a love interest and feel-good ending. There are great performances from the rest of cast including Barry Otto and Bill Hunter. One could not call their appearances "cameos" because most of these characters (as distinct from the actors) are out to hog as much of the limelight as possible.

Some of the featured music includes Love is in the Air and Time after Time.

One of the reasons this film stands the test of time is because the underlying theme rings true across time and place. Just about anyone who has taken part in any sort of formal competition - be it gymnastics, opera singing, wood chopping, cookery or architecture - will recognise the interaction between the officials, judges, trainers all trying to use the emerging new talent as their own path to glory and influence. The characters are all wonderful caricatures but remain recognisable: most will spot an uncle, a friend or a colleague in numbers of these characters. Even though the characters are Australians drawn with a broad brush of poster paint, the characters are universal in the way that another successful Australian creation, Mother and Son, struck immediate chords of recognition in widely differing cultures around the world. And in the end, everyone will remember times in their lives when they wanted to do something that was not 'strictly ballroom".