Fame (1980)

(In French, On Cable TV, April 2019) One of the least-appreciated revolutions in twenty-first century filmmaking is the viability of TV miniseries as a storytelling format. Suddenly, creative projects that make sense over a lengthy duration can become long-form binge viewing, leaving movies to focus on tighter, more focused stories. Fame cries out for the miniseries treatment: Featuring an ensemble cast of teenagers going through four years of creative arts high school, it simply packs too much in two hours and feels as if it barely gets any chance to develop its dramatic arcs, strike a coherent tone or let its characters breathe a moment. Director Alan Parker gets to play with a lot of different storytelling devices, from initial auditions to an impromptu musical number (and another, more diegetic one) to stand-up performing to sex comedy hijinks to a classical music concert, alongside more dramatic moments. To be fair, Fame does have its share of interest and quirks: Taking place in a school focused on performing arts means that the film can transition from one scene to the other through the device of characters rehearsing dramatic pieces, meaning that you quickly learn not to trust anything on-screen until a few moments have passed. The Rocky Horror Picture Show screening scene is a lot of fun, and there’s a genuinely funny stand-up routine in there. There’s also more nudity than expected. The actors aren’t bad (Irene Cara, Paul MacCrane and Gene Anthony Ray being particular standouts) and they are given some meaty material to play… but the script often leaves them badly served by depriving them of a climax or a complete character arc. Four years and a dozen characters can’t be stuffed in two hours without everyone feeling cheated of a satisfying story. It doesn’t help that the tone of the film is all over the place, from comedy to musical sing-alongs to big tragic monologues and dramatic character moments—such shifts are manageable within the context of an eight-hour miniseries, but they stick out in a film. I still like watching Fame for its moments, but I remain dubious about it overall. In movie history, it exists as a footnote (it was MGM’s last musical before its merger with UA), and a transitional point from seventies grittiness leading to the music video aesthetics of the 1980s.