classic period piece

Rating: 9/10 (9 April 2016)

If I was honest I should admit this is one of my all time favorite films. But understand I also realize this movie is hopelessly dated and some elements of the plot may not work as well in hind site. Having said that I still believe if you take into consideration the impact and influence this film had and still has, the fact that it is linked to an era in film that is largely considered fantastic, and lastly that it contains perhaps the most impressive acting debut for a lead in history and you have a stone cold classic.
The music is also very much of its time, and in its time it was hugely successful. If one wanted to be transported back to 1978 this is its soundtrack. But the way the film uses music is in my opinion unique in that its not a musical in the traditional sense- nobody breaks into song mid-scene. However the music is organic to the story of how this young man comes of age and begins to realize the imprisonment of his friends,of his family, and of his environment.
Another thing about this movie that I have long admired is how the story is told. This is one gritty urban tale and it captured NYC circa 1977 perfectly. Forget the disco, this is the era of Son of Sam and blackouts, and as a lover of NYC I gotta say I love seeing the trash and the graffiti everywhere. The script by Wexler is authentic and bites. But most of all the simple motif of escaping an environment is a passage that is incredibly profound and not explored often enough. Who cannot relate in some way to that.
Bottom line this is a classic very much rooted in its place in time. Saturday Night Fever deserves its place as one of the best films of the 1970s. And that was one hell of an era to be one of the best films in.