Xanadu (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the 1980 film. For other uses of the term, see Xanadu (disambiguation).
Xanadu
Directed by Robert Greenwald
Produced by Lawrence Gordon
Joel Silver
Written by Marc Reid Rubel
Starring Olivia Newton-John
Gene Kelly
Michael Beck
Music by Barry De Vorzon
John Farrar
Olivia Newton-John
The Tubes
Cliff Richard
Electric Light Orchestra
Cinematography Victor J. Kemper
Editing by Dennis Virkler
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s) August 8, 1980
Running time 93 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget $20 million
Gross revenue $25,190,570
Preceded by Down to Earth (1947)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Xanadu is a 1980 musical/romance film directed by Robert Greenwald. It is an unofficial remake of the 1947 film Down to Earth starring Rita Hayworth. The title of the film is a reference to the poem "Kubla Khan, or A Vision in a Dream. A Fragment." by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which is quoted in the film. Xanadu is the name of the Chinese province where Khan establishes his pleasure garden in the poem.

Xanadu stars Olivia Newton-John (fresh from her role in Grease), Michael Beck, and Gene Kelly, and features music by Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra, UK pop idol Cliff Richard, and the San Francisco-based art-rock band The Tubes.

Tagline: A fantasy. A musical. A place where dreams come true.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Sonny Malone (Michael Beck) is a talented artist who dreams of fame beyond his job, which is painting larger versions of album covers for record-store window advertisements. As the film opens, Sonny is broke and on the verge of giving up his dream. Having quit his day job to try to make a living as a freelance artist, but having failed to make any money at it, Sonny returns to his old job at AirFlo Records. After some humorous run-ins with his imperious boss and nemesis Simpson, he resumes painting record covers.

At work, Sonny is told to paint an album cover for a group called The Nine Sisters. The cover features a beautiful woman passing in front of an art deco auditorium (the Pan-Pacific). This same woman collided with him earlier that day, kissed him, then roller-skated away, and Malone becomes obsessed with finding her. She finds him and identifies herself as Kira (Olivia Newton-John), but will tell him nothing else about herself. Unbeknownst to Sonny, Kira is one of nine mysterious and beautiful women who literally sprang to life from a local mural near the beach in town.

Sonny befriends a has-been big band orchestra leader-turned-construction mogul named Danny McGuire (Gene Kelly). Danny lost his muse in the 1940s; Sonny has not yet found his muse. Kira encourages the two men to form a partnership and open a nightclub at the old auditorium from the album cover. She falls in love with Sonny, and this presents a problem because she is actually the Olympian Muse of dance, and her real name is Terpsichore. The other eight women from the beginning of the movie are her sisters and fellow goddesses, the Muses, and the mural is actually a portal of sorts and their point of entry to Earth.

As it turns out, the Muses visit Earth often to help inspire others to pursue their dreams and desires. But in Kira's case, she had broken the rules, as she was only meant to inspire Sonny, but ended up falling in love with him as well. Her parents (presumably the Greek gods Zeus and Mnemosyne) recall her to the timeless realm of the gods. Sonny follows through the mural and professes his love for her.

A short debate between Sonny and Zeus occurs with Mnemosyne interceeding on Kira and Sonny's behalf. Kira then enters the discussion, saying that the emotions toward Sonny that she has experienced are new to her and asks if they could only have one more night together to let Sonny's dream of Xanadu becoming a success come true. But Zeus ultimately sends Sonny back to Earth. After Kira expresses her own feelings for Sonny in the song Suspended In Time, Zeus and Mnemosyne decide to let Kira go to him for a "moment, or maybe forever" (mortal time confuses them) and the audience is left to wonder her fate.

In the finale of the movie, Kira and the Muses perform for a packed house for Xanadu's grand opening, and after Kira's final song they return to the realm of the gods in spectacular fashion. Sonny is understandably depressed thereafter, but that quickly changes when Danny has one of the waitresses bring Sonny a drink. The waitress appears to be none other than Kira--she's been allowed by Zeus to stay as long as she wishes. Sonny approaches her and says he would just like to talk to her.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Cameos

[edit] The Muses

[edit] Members of the Tubes

[edit] Reaction

The film barely broke even at the box office, but the soundtrack (No. 4 Billboard) was a huge commercial success. It was certified double platinum and spent one week atop the Cashbox and Record World Pop Albums charts. The soundtrack contained five Top 20 singles:

  • "Magic" - Olivia Newton-John (No. 1 - 4 weeks Pop, No. 1 - 5 weeks AC, certified gold)
  • "Xanadu" - Olivia Newton-John/Electric Light Orchestra (No. 8 Pop, No. 2 AC)
  • "All Over the World" - Electric Light Orchestra (No. 13 Pop, No. 45 AC)
  • "I'm Alive" - Electric Light Orchestra (No. 16 Pop, No. 48 AC, certified gold)
  • "Suddenly" - Olivia Newton-John/Cliff Richard (No. 20 Pop, No. 4 AC)

Although the film was nominated for six Razzies at the first-ever Golden Raspberry Awards (winning one), it has endured to become a cult classic. At the time, the visuals were unusual and novel, as they portrayed "roller disco" with an emphasis on disco music and extensive choreographed roller skating sequences. Actor Michael Beck, who played Sonny, commented in a 2005 interview that people who have seen the film have responded to its "hopeful" theme.[1]

[edit] 1980 film production

Xanadu's nightclub interior was built on Stage 4 of the Hollywood Center Studios (1040 N. Las Palmas Avenue, Hollywood) beginning in 1979.[2]

[edit] 2008 DVD Release

Xanadu will be re-released on DVD June 24, 2008. The "Magical Music Edition" will feature a "Going Back to Xanadu" featurette and the film's theatrical trailer. A bonus music CD with the complete soundtrack will also be included.

[edit] 2007 Broadway production

Main article: Xanadu (musical)

A $5 million Broadway musical adaptation of the film began previews on May 23, 2007, and opened (with Olivia Newton-John and John Farrar in attendance) on July 10, 2007 starring Kerry Butler as Kira, Cheyenne Jackson as Sonny and Tony Roberts as Danny. Jackie Hoffman and Mary Testa co-starred (in a new plot twist to the Broadway version) as "evil" Muse sisters. The show was a hit and the original cast CD was released December 2007.[3]

[edit] Pop culture influence

Lightspeed Champion covered the song Xanadu in 2008.

[edit] Awards and nominations

Nominated: Best Pop Female Vocal Performance - Magic Olivia Newton-John
Nominated: Best Major Motion Picture - Family Entertainment
Won: Razzie Award for Worst Director (Robert Greenwald)
Nominated: Worst Picture
Nominated: Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay
Nominated: Worst Actor (Michael Beck)
Nominated: Razzie Award for Worst Actress (Olivia Newton-John)
Nominated: Razzie Award for Worst "Original" Song ("Suspended in Time")
Nominated: Worst "Musical" of Our First 25 Years

[edit] References

  1. ^ Whitney Matheson. "Life after 'Xanadu': It ain't no disco, but who's complaining?," USA Today, January 18, 2005
  2. ^ Don Fields The Xanadu Story
  3. ^ Gans, Andrew "Xanadu Workshop — with Krakowski and Jackson — Presented Jan. 20-21". Playbill, January 20, 2007. Retrieved on January 29, 2007.

[edit] External links