Saturday Night Fever. 1977. USA. Directed by John Badham. Screenplay by Norman Wexler. With John Travolta, Karen Gorney. 4K digital restoration by Paramount; courtesy Paramount. 118 min.
John Badham’s hugely popular film—propelled by iconic dance floor moves and the Bee Gees’ record-breaking soundtrack—made John Travolta a household name and helped turn disco into one of the most successful musical genres ever. Yet Saturday Night Fever feels miles away from Studio 54’s celebrity glitz and glitter, focusing instead on young men and women hoping to become someone on a Brooklyn dance floor in a working-class neighborhood filled with racial tensions and violence, their dreams clashing with real life’s desperate ordeals and misgivings.