The Performance Featured, Reviews Film Threat
CONTACT ROME MOVIE 2023 REVIEW! It’s no surprise that fame comes with compromises. Shira Piven’s feature film The Performance examines how far a starving artist will go just to have an audience. It’s 1937 and Harold May (Jeremy Piven) is a talented American tap dancer, which means he’s a struggling artist with no money. At every performance there were bookers looking for excuses to hinder this tap artist and his troupe. But, as they say, the show must go on. Looking for a change of scenery, May and his teammates took a European tour through the Balkans, where club owners were as greedy as the Americans. However, Harold May has found an admirer in Herr Fugler (Robert Carlyle). He found American tap dancing very exciting and immediately made May an offer he couldn’t refuse. May was offered an all-expenses-paid trip to Berlin to perform at the wealthy Kick Club in front of a packed audience. He had May in front of a “crowded audience.” Upon arrival, May had access to the best hotels, meals, and the opportunity to perform on a big stage with a live band. Unfortunately, the group did not know any famous songs by Jewish composers such as Irving Berlin. On the night of the big performance, the club closes, causing May’s dance troupe to panic. Don’t worry, but the club was closed to make room for an important VIP guest, Adolf Hitler. Maybe being Jewish, would he continue for the benefit of the public…I mean art?
There’s a lot to explain about The Performance, since everything I’ve described is just the first act of the movie. Based on the short story of the same name by Arthur Miller and adapted by director Shira Piven and co-writer Josh Salzberg, The Performance asks a lot of questions and chooses to answer only a few of them. The important question to ask here is: “What will you do?” Then he asked another series of questions so we could get that answer. Is there a separation between art and politics? Fugler said yes and went further to say that art “unifies.” Does it matter who your audience is as long as you have an audience? How deep do you bury yourself? Knowing the answer could lead to trouble. or worse, threaten your access to the stage. Jeremy Piven is at the heart of The Performance. First of all, who knew he could dance? His tap dancing is absolutely impeccable and he looks like a professional dancer or at least a member of a touring troupe. He doesn’t look like he learned how to type just for this movie, where all eyes are on his feet. In addition to tap dance, Jeremy Piven also delivered a powerful, profound and moving performance. As with Harold May, his conflict lies solely in his face and body language, and it smolders until the end.
As director, Shira Piven expertly immerses us in the 1930s by combining her principal photography with archival footage from the period. I wouldn’t say it’s transparent, but his use of these images as sequences is downright artistic. His use of handheld cameras keeps the action moving and we, the audience, are constantly off balance. It’s a beautiful and realistic story, especially considering its modest budget. The Performance leans into diving deep into the complicated nature of humans to always think of themselves first before the greater good. Where I found myself most engaged with the story is Harold May’s struggle. the inner conflict ultimately defines who he is as a person.