Baz Luhrmann is known for movie musicals like Moulin Rouge and Strictly Ballroom, and spectacles like Australia that might have been improved with some dance choreography here and there. What he has not been known for, so far, are movies that realistically depict a time and place, usually opting instead for fantasy touches in his period pieces that allow him to play fast and loose with styles. That looks to all change with The Get Down, a new Netflix series about South Bronx teens in the ’70s.
Despite a possibly anachronistic bit of more modern-sounding hip-hop at the very end, the first trailer looks like a spot-on time capsuleânot that I personally was there, but I mainly mean there aren’t any green fairies or storybooks coming into pop-up life, or 3D Leonardo DiCaprios.
Then again, the show is described as “a mythic saga,” so it’s possible Netflix is just hiding all the Luhrmann flair in order to bring in a whole new audience. Regardless, the focus on soul and disco is a new direction for the director, and a potentially quite exciting one. And aside from Giancarlo Esposito, Jimmy Smits, and Jaden Smith, the cast consists of mostly new faces.
But what has me most excitedâand the trailer does not emphasize this at all, when it should probably be screaming it from the rooftopsâis that one of the principal characters is Grandmaster Flash.
Yes, this Grandmaster Flash:
Unfortunately Melle Mel, who does most of the actual rapping above, is not yet listed as a character; in the wake of Straight Outta Compton, he’s long overdue for some biopic action. But as the trailer notes, this is just “Part 1.”
Will The Get Down bring some chill to Netflix? Do you trust a white Australian auteur to bring the soul to the ’70s? Discuss in comments below if you’re ready to Get Down.
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Image Credit: Netflix/YouTube