MOVIES AT LA PLAZA: THE LAST SHOWGIRL—A tribute to a genre long gone

Movie Review by Sergio Martínez

Revue theatre has a long history with dance troupes that have enjoyed notable fame, such as the Folies Bergère in Paris. However, the less famous cabarets that once proliferated in various cities worldwide have disappeared in recent years. With their departure also go the preened dancers in tiny costumes that barely cover their bodies and sport rhinestones and feathers.

Pamela Anderson as Shelly

The Last Showgirl, a film directed by Gia Coppola, is a sort of homage to this genre, in this case, centred in Las Vegas, an entertainment capital in the United States that, in the golden age of cabaret, hosted many of them in the casinos and surrounding areas.  With the arrival of the new century, however, other forms of entertainment displaced the revue theatre: circuses such as Cirque du Soleil or, in a more sordid environment, venues featuring striptease or dancers at the tables relegated the cabaret and with it, those who were its not-always-recognized stars.

Shelly (Pamela Anderson) joined the corps de ballet at Le Razzle Dazzle in the 1980s and, after thirty years on stage, has come to consider her work truly an art form. She really loves what she does. That view is shared by her friend Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis), who is now retired from dancing and working in a casino serving cocktails, albeit with the caveat that age is the enemy of the trade.

Jamie Lee Curtis as Annette,
a former dancer

The relatively predictable life of Shelly and her younger dancer colleagues, Jodie (Kiernan Shipka) and Mary-Anne (Brenda Song), is abruptly interrupted when their friend and stage manager Eddie (Dave Bautista), brings them the bad news: the theatre is closing. When Shelly attends an audition at another venue, she must brutally deal with an insurmountable obstacle in her craft: age. At over 50, Shelly's job prospects are greatly diminished. Amid it all, there is a reunion with her daughter Hannah (Billie Lourd), whom she has not seen for a long time.  Time, however, only hastens the inevitable, and Shelly must deal with it. She does so in the way one might expect from that world of glittering sequins and spectacular stage displays.

Eddie  (Dave Batista), the stage director

This film takes us back to a type of show that has been disappearing without its anonymous protagonists leaving their traces. In this sense of rescuing the memory of those dancers, Pamela Anderson, the Canadian actress who became famous as a sex symbol in the series Baywatch, which aired between 1989 and 2001, delivers a very convincing performance. Both Shelly's more personal moments, sharing with her friend Annette, at the family dinner table with her colleagues and Eddie, or in the attempt to reconnect with her daughter, and on stage, especially her last appearance with the expected smile, leave a strong impression. Certainly, her performance in this film is also a denouncement against ageism.

Pamela Anderson delivers a convincing and powerful performance

We recommend The Last Showgirl for its dramatic quality, very good narrative development, and the themes it alludes to.

Running time: 88 min.

CINE EN LA PLAZA—THE LAST SHOWGIRL (LA ÚLTIMA BAILARINA DE CABARET): Homenaje a un género ya ido

Comentario de Sergio Martínez

El teatro de revistas, también conocido como “teatro frívolo”, ha tenido una larga historia con grupos de baile que han gozado de notable fama, como el Folies Bergère de París. En años recientes, sin embargo, las expresiones menos famosas de esos espectáculos que proliferaron en diversas ciudades del mundo están desapareciendo. Con su partida se van también las bailarinas acicaladas con pequeños trajes que apenas cubren sus cuerpos, mientras lucen elaboradas armazones con lentejillas brillantes y coloridos plumajes.

Pamela Anderson entrega una
convincente Shelly

The Last Showgirl, película dirigida por Gia Coppola, es una suerte de homenaje a ese género, en este caso centrado en Las Vegas, una capital del entretenimiento en Estados Unidos que en la época de oro del cabaret albergó a muchos de ellos en los casinos y áreas aledañas.  Con la llegada del nuevo siglo, sin embargo, otras formas de entretenimiento desplazaron al teatro frívolo: circos como el Cirque du Soleil o en un ámbito más sórdido, los locales que presentan striptease o bailarinas a las mesas relegaron al cabaret y con ello a quienes eran sus no siempre reconocidas estrellas.

Shelly (Pamela Anderson) se había integrado al cuerpo de baile de Le Razzle Dazzle en los años 80 y por treinta años en el escenario ha llegado a considerar que su trabajo es realmente una forma de arte, ella realmente ama lo que hace. Ese parecer es compartido por su amiga Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis), ahora ya retirada del baile y trabajando en un casino sirviendo cócteles, eso sí, con la advertencia de que la edad es la enemiga del oficio.

Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis)
una ex bailarina 

El pasar relativamente previsible de la vida de Shelly y sus colegas bailarinas más jóvenes, Jodie (Kiernan Shipka) y Mary-Anne (Brenda Song), se verá abruptamente interrumpido cuando su amigo y director de escena Eddie (Dave Bautista) les trae la mala noticia: el teatro va a cerrar. Cuando Shelly asiste a una audición en otro local, debe lidiar de manera brutal con un obstáculo insuperable en su oficio: la edad. Con sobre 50 años, las perspectivas laborales de Shelly se ven muy disminuidas. En medio de todo eso, se produce un reencuentro con su hija Hannah (Billie Lourd) a quien no ve desde hace mucho tiempo.  El tiempo, sin embargo, sólo apresura lo inevitable y Shelly debe enfrentarlo, y lo hace del modo como es de esperar de ese mundo de lentejillas brillantes y despliegues espectaculares sobre el escenario.

Eddie (Dave Batista) es el
director de escena

Este es un film que nos traslada a un tipo de espectáculo que ha ido desapareciendo sin que sus anónimas protagonistas dejen sus huellas. En este sentido de rescatar la memoria de esas bailarinas, Pamela Anderson, la actriz canadiense que se hiciera famosa como símbolo sexual en la serie Guardianes de la Bahía transmitida entre 1989 y 2001, entrega una muy convincente actuación. Tanto los momentos más personales de Shelly, compartiendo con su amiga Annette, o en la mesa familiar con sus colegas y Eddie, o en el intento de reconectar con su hija, así como sobre el escenario, en especial su última aparición con la esperada sonrisa, dejan una fuerte impresión. Ciertamente, su actuación en este film es también una denuncia contra la discriminación por edad.

Una notable actuación de Pamela Anderson como
la bailarina que no pierde su sonrisa, pese a las circunstancias

The Last Showgirl es un film que recomendamos tanto por su calidad dramática, su muy buen desarrollo narrativo, así como por los temas que alude.

Duración: 88 min.

MOVIES AT LA PLAZA: THE RETURN-Go easy on the legend

Movie Review by Sergio Martínez

For the writer of this piece, the story of Ulysses and his return after battling in the Trojan War was the first encounter, as a teenager, with the fascinating saga of Greek mythology. The Odyssey, as told by Homer, transports us to that time when the gods seemed to enjoy putting all kinds of obstacles in the lives of humans. Certainly, they also do their part in unleashing many of these misfortunes upon themselves. Still, in the end, the hero will fight for the balance between justice, reward for loyalty, and persistence to be restored.

The film, directed by Uberto Pasolini, focuses on the final episode of the Odyssey when, after spending years at the mercy of the elements at sea, returning from Troy, and having dealt with monsters and other traps sometimes set by the gods themselves, Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) finally returns to his homeland, Ithaca. Still, he is no longer the same warrior as before. His kingdom has also changed: his wife, Queen Penelope (Juliette Binoche), is constantly besieged by suitors who want to become the new king. His son Telemachus (Charlie Plummer) also resents his father's absence, whom he hardly knew, and is in danger because he is an obstacle for his mother's suitors.

Despite all the omens that Odysseus should by then be dead, Penelope holds out hope that her husband is alive. The queen has said that she will choose her future husband once she finishes a weaving on which she toils during the day, only to undo it at night. However, no deadline is missed, and Penelope must finally decide. When she does, she devises a complex test of warrior skill that will reveal who will be chosen.

The Return, however, fails to convey the emotional tension that emanates from Penelope's wait and loyalty for the warrior's return and has many overlong scenes that don't add much to the drama, such as some of the skirmishes in which Telemachus is involved. What it succeeds in is conveying Odysseus' state of mind and portraying through him what the war was like and what its effects were. In today's language, one could say that the hero has returned but is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, a syndrome common today in many former combatants in wars. In a certain sense, the film can be qualified as a denunciation of war and its effects, both psychological and emotional, indirectly inflicted on others, in this case, on the wife and her son.

Running time: 116 min.