Strictly Ballroom (12A)

Baz Luhrmann’s delightful debut is the opening chapter in a career that exploded like a dynamite-rigged disco.

It provided a springboard to bigger things for the former opera director on a mission to shower audiences with style and spectacle. Luhrmann’s ambition soared as his stocks grew. Nothing was too loud, grand or colourful; no literary source too precious or revered.

Scott Hastings (Paul Mercurio), the son of two retired ballroom dancers who now run a teaching studio, is a future champion. Or he would be, if he didn’t keep deviating from the steps laid down by the Australian Dance Federation’s Barry Fife (Bill Hunter).When his dancing partner dumps him after he goes rogue during a competition, Fran (Tara Morice) offers to take on the might of the Federation with him. Cue lingering looks, secret rooftop rehearsals and a montage set to Time After Time, with plenty of neon eyeshadow thrown in.

Luhrmann’s films are like Michael Bay films for the high-end part of town: flashy, unsubtle, populist and whipped together with frenetic impatience. Strictly Ballroom is by far his most charming and tender-hearted film.