Was the Much Maligned Musical "Xanadu" Daily Inspiration?

Xanadu Trailer

The major films of 1980 were the ‘important’ films from Ordinary People to Raging Bull and Atlantic City, but what were considered minor by a fair chunk of the movie going public, who pitched their tents outside The Empire Strikes Back and gave the wholesome, suitable, or acceptable films a chance. Those were the likes of Heartland (a critical favourite), The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark, Little Lord Fauntleroy, Raise the Titanic, Herbie Goes Bananas, Popeye, and Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen. On the other hand, Saturn 3, Battle Beyond the Stars, Flash Gordon and Xanadu were the cult films of the year and the latter is on review here.

Obscure films do have a hard go of it at the box office, but they do have a regular clientele. Xanadu is one of these, one of the few musicals from the 1980s, featuring music from Olivia Newton John, Electric Light Orchestra, and The Tubes. It starred Olivia Newton John and veteran Hollywood performer, dancer, and singer Gene Kelly.

The Story

The story of Xanadu goes that career frustrated Sonny Malone (Michael Beck) goes through the motions producing music store posters, which flies in the face of his sense of genuine artistic expression. He needs more from life. Before you say enter the psychiatrist, in comes a Greek muse on a pair of roller skates played by Olivia Newton John who becomes his source of inspiration.

When ‘touched’ by the muse, she roller skates away, but he goes seeking her out, and on meeting again she inspires him to consider upgrading an abandoned building and make it into a nightclub, but it seems an impossible dream.

He thinks the down and out establishment needs rock and roll, but an older man, none other than one played by actively retired dancer Gene Kelly, whose opinion on such matters must be gold, thinks it needs jazzy numbers from the 1940s.

Inspiration makes one dream aloud, but it is more like the thing one would do on the side, to get you up in the morning. But who knows. The nightclub may take off…As they both dream aloud, their fantasies merge into a smorgasbord of rock, dance, jazz and the 1950’s—hence a hit soundtrack. The musical numbers are performed by Olivia Newton John (written by John Farrar) and Electric Light Orchestra (written by Jeff Lynne) with The Tubes.

Problems

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I tried to expand on the theme of Xanadu, by making parallels to that thing we call inspiration. I thought about it and not all forms of inspiration are good—as they just pretend to be inspiring but come as an 'angel of light' hoodwinking you. Even some of the motivational material just makes you dry up or fizzle out.

Perhaps Xanadu is New Age hokum. Be inspired? Maybe I could expand the theme and there is a view to that. Yet the kind of inspiration I need is real. Inspiration to make one live again, start afresh, or begin again, or a sense of inspiration can improve our lives that we already live. From a theological angle, or God angle, inspiration can come from above. This undoubtedly can improve one’s outlook and motivation to live and even who to live for, impacting on one’s reason to live.

The Human Experience

So, I kind of expand on the theme here. Feeling stuck in the grind is common. Sometimes, I felt like I hit the brick wall, too, and there wasn’t a straightforward way out. Here comes a feeling of giving up, but the realities of life, paying the bills, and feeding family keep one working. One thinks about the alternatives. Is there a job beyond the necessity of paying the bills and going through the daily grind? In the meantime, one accepts the daily commute and the inevitable job before us. Inspiration for living must be real that even a small amount of inspiration can bring meaning to life and purpose to existence.

Is it possible that with real inspiration, one may not need to leave their job but have a new lease of life even during one’s occupation. Of course, the alternative is possible, but can flowers even smell good, can coffee taste better when it isn’t as good as the other shop, can life brighten up, even on the grind...

Qualities And Lack Thereof

A positive thing in Xanadu is taking the down and out things, the decrepit things and revitalising them.

This slight musical was bombed by the critics at the time and rightly so as it’s a mild story, nothing much ignites in terms of the story and even the musical side does not centre one in it. The soundtrack even sounds better, but even then, it sounds stale and old from forty years ago. There is a sense that the visceral qualities of the music are bound up in infirmity.

However, more immediate satisfaction is found in the performances by Gene Kelly, Olivia Newton John. and Michael Beck if one can see Xanadu through. There is a charm, here and there is a platonic romance between the leading players although the male in the romance wants to go to the ‘next level’. Yet finding any sense of inspiration in this movie is by ‘looking up’ rather than being inspired by this modern musical. Yet one just takes it like it is and finds an underwhelming, slight film that is also curiously attractive.

Cast: Olivia Newton John, Gene Kelly, Michael Back. Writers: Richard Christian Danus, Marc Reid Rubel. Songs: Olivia Newton John (written by John Farrar) and Electric Light Orchestra (written by Jeff Lynne). Director: Robert Greenwald. Released August 8, 1980.

Watch Xanadu

© 2023 Peter Veugelaers