Straordinario coreografo e regista della Hollywood degli anni ’30 e ’40, Busby Berkeley è stato un grande innovatore, capace di segnare un’intera epoca in maniera indelebile.
Le sue enormi e complicatissime coreografie, hanno fatto scuola, anche per la grandissima libertà formale della sua macchina da presa, che le allontanavano dal balletto filmato, per farne un gioco di pure forme.
Tra i suoi risultati memorabili, equamente divisi tra MGM e Warner, ricordiamo almeno 42nd Street, la serie Gold Diggers (Donne di lusso), Viva le donne!, Girl Crazy, Facciamo il tifo insieme, I ragazzi di Broadway ed il noir, Hanno fatto di me un criminale.
La Warner Bros. ha acquistato i diritti della biografia di Jeffrey Spivak “Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley” per affidarla a Ryan Gosling, che dovrebbe dirigere e produrre il film , assieme a Marc Platt (Drive).
Spivak’s well-written biography of the Hollywood choreographer and director, famous for the complicated, kaleidoscopic dances he choreographed for such films as 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933, has scholarly depth yet is gracefully accessible. Spivak’s writing is especially strong when he discusses Berkeley’s trademark style—playful, visually arresting dances, packed with large numbers of chorus girls dancing in lockstep—and his myriad artistic influences, which include his mother, who was in the theater and silent movies; and a stint in the military, where he drilled soldiers to march in formation. In his prime, Berkeley worked extremely long hours like a man possessed, driving himself and his dancers to the brink of collapse and, in Berkeley’s case, beyond, into an alcoholism that eventually all but destroyed his career. Cineastes will enjoy Spivak’s close attention to Berkeley’s obsessively detailed planning and execution processes, and Spivak’s no-less-detailed descriptions of the final films. And for those who like movie gossip, there’s Berkeley’s wild, dysfunctional private life (which included parties, love affairs, and multiple marriages, all fueled by too much alcohol).
Per Gosling sarebbe il secondo film da regista, dopo How to catch a monster.
Stanze di Cinema 