Flashdance

1983 Drama

Jennifer Beals stars as Alex Owens, a Pittsburgh steel-mill welder by day, and bar dancer by night. Harboring dreams of a career in ballet, she is given financial support in this endeavor by her boss Nick Hurley (Michael Nouri) and moral support by demanding but big-hearted instructor Hanna Long (Lilia Skala). The film's signature scene is, of course, Alex's water-drenched dance audition, largely performed in long shot by her dance double Marine Jahan. Essentially an old-fashioned backstage yarn, Flashdance was given a contemporary spin by its pulsating, musical score featuring the Oscar-winning Best Song, Flashdance...What a Feeling, (music by Giorgio Moroder, lyrics by Keith Forsey and Irene Cara).

Director: Adrian Lyne

Starring: Jennifer Beals, Michael Nouri, Belinda Bauer, Lilia Skala, Sunny Johnson

 16 Reviews  14 Awards

Reviews

  • Flashdance makes liberal use of jump cuts, strobe lighting and hard-edged, post-punk chic in its dance sequences, it registers as the end product of energy being released by an essentially lyrical temperament. It charms us, makes us want to refrain from scrutinizing it too closely.

    Jay Carr - The Boston Globe

    19 January 2013

  • With a score by Giorgio Moroder, and with ingenious costumes that are utterly au courant, Flashdance contains such dynamic dance scenes that it's a pity there's a story here to bog them down.

    Janet Maslin - The New York Times

    19 January 2013

  • Watching Flashdance is pretty much like looking at MTV for 96 minutes. Virtually plotless, exceedingly thin on characterization and sociologically laughable, pic at least lives up to its title by offering an anthology of extraordinarily flashy dance numbers.

    - Variety

    19 January 2013

  • Glitz with no mind and lots of fancy visuals, edited with a pounding beat.

    Jonathan Rosenbaum - Chicago Reader

    19 January 2013

  • If Flashdance had spent just a little more effort getting to know the heroine of its story, and a little less time trying to rip off "Saturday Night Fever," it might have been a much better film.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    19 January 2013

Awards

  • Best Music, Original Song

    Academy Awards (1984)

  • Best Edited Feature Film

    American Cinema Editors (1984)

     

  • Best Foreign Language Film

    Awards of the Japanese Academy (1984)

     

  • Best Editing

    BAFTA Awards (1984)

  • Best Foreign Language Film

    Blue Ribbon Awards (1984)

Lists

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