A Chorus Line (1985) is a film adaptation of the hit 1975 Broadway musical of the same name, directed by Richard Attenborough. The story follows a group of dancers auditioning for a Broadway musical, with the demanding director, Zach (played by Michael Douglas), pushing them to reveal personal stories about their lives, dreams, and struggles.

As the audition progresses, each dancer shares intimate details about their past—why they started dancing, personal hardships, and aspirations—highlighting themes of passion, sacrifice, and the uncertainty of a performer's life. One of the key emotional arcs revolves around Cassie (Alyson Reed), a former star dancer who had a relationship with Zach and is now struggling to find her place in the chorus line.

The film explores the harsh realities of show business, where talent isn't always enough, and not everyone makes the cut. The final selection process is both heartbreaking and exhilarating, culminating in the iconic number One, where the chosen dancers perform in perfect unison, emphasizing that despite their individual stories, they ultimately blend into the ensemble.

The film was met with mixed reviews, especially from fans of the original stage production, as it altered or omitted certain songs and character moments. However, it remains a nostalgic look at the struggles and triumphs of performers in the theater industry.

I really loved the film! I haven't seen the stage production yet so my opinion is probably biased and I can't say anything about the numbers that might have been deleted or altered but 

1. I am in love with young Michael Douglas

2. I want to be a stage performer

3. I cried like a baby at the end

What to watch if you liked this film: 

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), directed by Luis Buñuel, is a surrealist satire about a group of upper-class friends who repeatedly try—and fail—to have a meal together.  

Their attempts are constantly interrupted by bizarre and unexpected events, blurring the lines between reality and dream.

They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth.

Through its absurd and dreamlike structure, the film critiques the hypocrisy, emptiness, and self-importance of the bourgeoisie, using humor and surreal imagery to expose their privilege and detachment from the real world.

For a long time, I thought I hated surrealists because I didn't like Dali. But then one day I watched Bunuel's Belle de Jour and understood how much I actually loved surrealism. Le charme discret de la bouregoisie is one more example of how much I love Bunuel's late work: the alternation between dream and reality (or is there really a difference between the two), this form of hypnosis he puts you under so that you feel compelled to watch the film and don't know what to do after it - and most of all the way he uses sudden noise to cut out conversations (gosh I love that).

Bunuel was looking for a subject on the theme of repetitions. He took something his productor Serge Sliberman had said at one moment and decided to make the opening of the film on it. The idea of the bourgeoisie only came very late in the process of the scenario-making. They mostly filmed the film in Paris or les Yvelines. The film received the Oscar of the best foreign film in 1973, le Prix Méliès in 1972; and Bunuel said of the film: "je fus particulièrement satisfait de pouvoir donner dans ce film ma recette du dry martini" (Luis Bunuel, Mon dernier soupir, 1982, 306).

I have been obsessed with the scene that happens in what I would call the underworld, but which is probably more the limbo world. The scene were they end up on stage, with someone saying the lines, and everyone runs off stage was also incredible.

What to watch if you liked this film: