Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000)

A non-glamorous portrayal of the lives of people who make their living at a strip club.

Director:

Michael Radford

Writers:

Michael Radford (screenplay), David Linter (screenplay)

Stars:

Charlotte Ayanna, Daryl Hannah, Kristin Bauer van Straten

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlotte Ayanna	...	Jessie
Kristin Bauer van Straten	...	Nico (as Kristin Bauer)
W. Earl Brown	...	Bobby
Daryl Hannah	...	Angel
Chris Hogan	...	Dennis
Sheila Kelley	...	Stormy
Elias Koteas	...	Sully
Vladimir Mashkov	...	Sacha
Sandra Oh	...	Jasmine
Rodney Rowland	...	Charlie
Jennifer Tilly	...	Jo
Robert Wisdom	...	Eddie
David Amos	...	Dave
Carolyne Aycaguer	...	Sophie
R.C. Bates	...	Jimmy (as RC Bates)

Storyline

Angel is a dancer wishing to adopt a child. Stormy is a dancer with a secret with her brother Sully. Jasmine is a poetess who falls in love with Dennis. Jo is a dancer who became pregnant and Jessie is a woman fighting to survive in Hollywood. The link between them is the fact that they dance at Blue Iguana, a strip-club managed by Eddie. Their personal dramas are the theme of this movie.

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Plot Keywords:

strip club | sexy woman | sexy | breasts | prostitution | 

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Taglines:

from the director of Il Postino

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive sexual content/nudity, language, some drug content and brief violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

11 October 2001 (Israel)

Also Known As:

Historias de la noche

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$30,181, 21 October 2001, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$30,181, 21 October 2001

Company Credits

Production Co:

Moonstone Entertainment,Bergman Lustig Productions,Dragon Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite only appearing in two scenes, Kristin Bauer made her own outfit for her strip routine and visited porn stars who gig at strip clubs. She even had training on how to use a whip.

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Goofs

Jo frequently takes long swigs from her whiskey container, yet never swallows any drink and speaks immediately after taking the container away from her mouth.

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Quotes

Jo: You think you'r the only person with reproductive organs. I'm gonna have this fucking baby. I'm gonna have this baby and my baby is gonna sell drugs to your baby on the playground. Do you know that. You fucking bitch.

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Alternate Versions

On the DVD commentary Michael Radford says there are enough deleted scenes to make 10 entire different versions of the whole movie. Each scene was re-filmed over 12 times as Dancing at the Blue Iguana was improvised and Michael got the actors to try each scene with alternate dialogue several times until the actors had no ideas left. However, only a select few deleted scenes/alternate takes are included on the DVD.

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Connections

References The Munsters (1964)

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Soundtracks

Pussycat Moan
Performed by Katie Webster
Courtesy of Alligator Records

User Reviews

Bittersweet and Melancholic

This movie is an outstanding example of "method" filmmaking -- in EVERY aspect: not only the actors, but the director, writers (which include the actors), and the crew all worked in this style, playing on instinct, on their gut reactions.

The performances are varied and uniformly excellent. The characters are intriguing and sometimes funny, though mostly sad. The actors all came up with their characters, did a lot of research and improvising, and the director supervised it all and brought it together (rather like a Mike Leigh film). The camera work is fine, as well, along with the sound, which incorporates a lot of overlapping dialog (rather like an Altman film).

Rent the DVD if you can and watch the documentary by Darryl Hannah, and listen to the TWO commentary tracks by some of the actors and by the director. It's all fascinating.