Roseland (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Dec 11, 2024
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
James IvoryRelease Date(s)
1977 (November 12, 2024)Studio(s)
Merchant Ivory Productions (Cohen Film Collection/Kino Lorber)- Film/Program Grade: B-
- Video Grade: B
- Audio Grade: B
- Extras Grade: C-
Review
Roseland was released the same year as Saturday Night Fever. Both focus on individuals who seek magic in a dance arena. The two films couldn’t be more different from each other. Saturday Night Fever is very much in step with the disco era in which it was released, while Roseland centers on aging people who dwell on the ballroom days of their youth.
Roseland is composed of three tales set at the famous title ballroom in New York City. The first, titled The Waltz, follows May (Teresa Wright, The Best Years of Our Lives), a widow who visits the ballroom only to reminisce about dancing there with her late husband. In a sort of Twilight Zone touch, she sees images of her younger self in a mirror dancing with her late husband, but only when she dances with Stan (Lou Jacobi, My Favorite Year), and she’s left to figure out what that means.
The second story, The Hustle, stars Christopher Walken (Catch Me If You Can) as Russel, a dancer who left his ambitions behind for the life of a gigolo. Russel has three women in his life—his benefactor, the wealthy, middle-aged divorcee Pauline (Joan Copeland, The Peacemaker); his former dance teacher Cleo (Helen Gallagher, Strangers When We Meet); and Marilyn (Geraldine Chaplin, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), a recent divorcee much closer to his own age. Russel can’t decide whether it’s best to simply string along this trio or commit to one.
The final tale, The Peabody, features Lilia Scala (Lilies of the Field) as Rosa, an elderly, heavily made up diva type with a secret. Rosa is set on entering the competition in the Peabody contest, a fast, intricate, strenuous dance. But she needs the cooperation of her regular partner Arthur (David Thomas, The Rainbow Boys), who’s not in the best of health and not always reliable. In prodding and persuading him to agree, she tells him her secret.
Among the all-star cast, Lilia Scala stands out. Her Rosa is determined, stubborn, and forceful as she bullies Arthur into joining her in the contest. Theresa Wright as May has little to do other than shrink from socializing at first and then look starry-eyed into mirror images reflecting her youth. Christopher Walken, young and handsome, plays the least likable person in the film, a smooth operator who exploits his looks and charm for selfish purposes. With little dialogue, he exudes confidence and poise. Lou Jacobi’s Stan is a big, blustery bulldozer who comes to the ballroom to dance and isn’t interested in anything more. His attitude toward May devolves from interest to polite coolness even as she sees in their relationship much more.
The screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala has an underlying sadness. The Roseland devotees are lonely, sad, and seeking momentary happiness on the dance floor. They’re interesting, up to a point, but Jhabvala gives us just enough information to know them only briefly and her dialogue lacks spark. There are no elaborate backstories. These are more like snapshots of lives than fully fleshed out characters, and this has a distancing effect. The problem might have been covering three different stories with different sets of characters in the same film. There’s little interaction of characters from one story into the next, which might have made for a more interesting structure. The only characters that connect all the segments are Cleo and the ballroom’s master of ceremonies (Don De Natale, The Wild Party).
With only brief exceptions, the entire film was filmed on location in the actual Roseland (which closed its doors for good in 2014). Director James Ivory gives us a good sense of the ballroom’s layout with its sprawling dance floor, long bar, luxurious powder room, and wide stairways, and exploits all areas to provide visual variety. Ernest Vincze’s photography is most notable on the dance floor as his camera sweeps and glides along with the dancers, many of whom are professionals in full costumes. Patricia Birch’s choreography takes advantage of the large dance floor and includes lots of eye-catching movement. Films with multiple stories go as far back as 1916 with D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance, and some later pictures adopting the format include The Comedy of Terrors, Crash, Pulp Fiction, and Cloud Atlas.
Roseland was shot by director of photography Ernest Vincze on 35 mm color film with Moveland cameras with spherical lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the theatrical ratio of 1.85:1. The Blu-ray’s aspect ratio is 1.66:1. Picture quality has a somewhat yellowish cast and several sequences lack sharp focus. The mirror images that May witnesses are purposefully hazy to suggest that she’s imagining them. The color palette includes primary colors but they appear desaturated. The dresses of the professional dancers are loud and exaggerated. For the waltz, some of the women have the hem of their skirts looped to both wrists to create a flowing look during spins and turns. Details such as stubble on the men’s faces, roses on the low barriers surrounding the dance floor, Pauline’s jewelry, and the name “Roseland” on outside signage are well delineated. An outdoor scene shows the slushy snow and overcast skies of a gloomy New York winter.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio. Dialogue is clear and distinct. Often, music is playing in the background and includes the songs Baubles, Bangles and Beads, Stranger in Paradise, The Moon of Manakoora, On a Slow Boat to China, Super Cool, and Rockin’ Chair. The arrangements have a big-band sound, which is appropriate in a film that deals with memories and dreams. But the music never comes alive and generates excitement. Sometimes it seems like elevator music, even though it’s a major element of the film. In a brief outdoor scene in front of the ballroom, ambient traffic noise can be heard under the dialogue.
Bonus materials on the Blu-ray release from the Cohen Film Collection via Kino Lorber include the following:
- Conversations from the Quad: James Ivory and Larry Kardish Discuss the Making of Roseland (9:42)
- Restoration Trailer (1:12)
Conversations from the Quad – Director James Ivory explains that the three stories in Roseland reflect the different types of people who attend the ballroom. He notes that the production encountered difficulties with the unions because of their demands to hire an art director. Ivory didn’t need one because the Roseland personnel wouldn’t permit anything to be changed, not even the lighting. The Screen Actors Guild wanted actors hired for extras but they couldn’t dance, so actual dancers were hired for scenes on the dance floor. Rewrites were done during production. All of the actors were easy to work with and all knew how to dance. Roseland was the last dance hall with a live band in New York City. The film, shot during a New York City winter, was received well but wasn’t a big hit.
Roseland is a look into the lives of people attracted to the ballroom for a variety of reasons. It’s the place they can live out fantasies, entertain hopes, relive memories, or simply lose themselves on the dance floor. The film lacks the traditional uplifting fade-out. You won’t come away snapping your fingers or swirling around the living room. Lilia Scala provides some funny moments but the film is otherwise devoid of humor, which makes for a cool, detached feel.
- Dennis Seuling