"Grease" at 40: always the one we want, Life & Culture



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March Jul 17, 2018 – 15:58

[LOS ANGELES] Four decades have passed since the Rydell High gang twisted, once in hand and made its way into the hearts of teens around the world – but we are all still The classic musical, which celebrates its 40th anniversary, brought back moviegoers to high school with Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) and Danny (Danny) John Travolta)

"When we're done, we did not really know what kind of impact that would have, "said filmmaker Randal Kleiser, who debuted as a director with" Grease ".

"We thought it would be good for teenagers for a summer or two, but I did not think 40 years later that incredible reaction from all over the world and all ages would happen. [19659006] Based on a Broadway musical success on the love stories of high school students of the 1950s, he was shot for two months in Los Angeles. He was gutted initially by many critics

but he ended up bringing in nearly $ 400 million and was the most popular musical movie of all time until "Mamma Mia!", 30 later. 19659003] When Kleiser threw his first couple, Travolta had already filmed "Saturday Night Fever" but had not yet come out – and he was widely known as the idol of the ABC sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter. "

Newton-John

– Dark Lyrics –

"John and I both wanted Olivia and she was resilient because she had made a movie that did not work well in England., A movie of science fiction, and she thought that she might be a little too old to play in front of him, "says Kleiser, referring to" Toomorrow "(1970)

" She asked for a test of John and I treated him as a little sister, gave him every encouragement, and it worked. "

Travolta and Newton-John have remained close friends over the decades, found together in "Two of a Kind" from 1983 A flop by all means, and meeting in 2012 to make a Christmas album.

They exchange text messages and support each other through the dark times, including the death of Travolta's son in 2009 and the return of breast cancer. she had beaten him in the 1990s.

Kleiser told AFP that although he had seen his stars separately over the years, a birthday meeting at the Film academy in Los Angeles next month would be the first full meeting of the trio. 19659003] The director made other films after "Grease" – notably "The Flight of the Navigator" (1986) – but the lure of the big studio blockbusters lost his luster and he was remote from the Hollywood system in the 1990s. 19659003] In a large-scale interview, he spoke of hi's frustration with the words of Barry Gibb for the iconic title-track sung by Frankie Valli, whom he thought he had struck a dark and incongruous tone.

Kleiser took Gibb aside and he emerged the Bee Gee knew nothing about the movie, script or show – and thought the word "Grease" was ridiculous.

– Over Innocent Age –

"I told him about changing the lyrics.I said:" There are no serious themes in the movie, "and he says, "Why do not you shoot a serious scene for the lyrics to work?" "

Kleiser believes that the longevity of the film can be attributed to his universal themes, the chemistry between his tracks and his call to our nostalgia for a more innocent age "where there were no terrorist attacks or shootings."

"Everything has come together in a perfect storm and hit the public zeitgeist" He has says:

Travolta has become a global superstar and his career highlights in the intervening years – another more than 30 films – barely need to be repeated.

After a lull in the 1980s, he suffered a resurgence in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 Pulp Fiction masterpiece that made him an icon for a new generation

Newton-John continued his musical career and appeared in "Xanadu" (1980) and "Two of a Kind" (1983).

She says she always has the black tight pants that she wore in "Grease". [1965] 9003] Kleiser still goes to screenings but says that he prefers these days to watch the audience experiencing and enjoying his coronation.

"I see a lot, a lot of flaws, but I think flaws are part of the charm of" Grease "This is not a real slick – not everything is perfect – and I think that adds to the feeling. "

AFP

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