Mind you, I don't think anybody there was hugely concerned that this would happen, but they were concerned about the possibility that it might. So they wanted me to write the narration and arrange the clips with Issa in ways that might guard against such a thing happening, or reassure them that we were looking out for them and trying to assuage their worries, and allow them to tell anyone who complained, "See? Matt says right there in the narration why he's using that clip."

In the end, unfortunately, the video essay was cut from the disc anyway! The rationale, as I understand it, was that even though the chance of a legal challenge was remote, if one did happen, and if Criterion either went to court and lost or decided to fold before it came to that, they'd have to physically recall all the discs and reprint them with a reedited version of my piece (or without the piece). And that would be very expensive. 

So in the end it was decided that "Fosse Time" would run online-only, as a virtual supplement to the physical disc. 

The essay you see embedded on this page is exactly what would have appeared on the disc—it's just on YouTube. I actually don't mind this as much as I feared I would; it means more people will see it. 

And now: It's showtime, folks!

"Fosse Time"

VOICE-OVER SCRIPT

By Matt Zoller Seitz

There’s past. There’s present. There’s future. And then there’s a different kind of time. One described by editor Alan Heim, who edited choreographer and director Bob Fosse’s last three movies. A continuously unfolding present tense moment. Fosse time.

All that Jazz begins with what seems like a standard character-establishing montage. The hero Joe Gideon’s morning routine.  Eye drops. Antacid. A section of Vivaldi’s four seasons played on a tape deck – a bit of music we’ll hear many times during the film. A shower and a cigarette.  Uppers. To get through the day.  

We’re in the present. Yes? 

No. Not exactly .

Are we in Joe Gideon’s head? Is this entire film an extended deathbed flashback? Is it something else entirely? We don’t know. It doesn’t matter that we don’t know. The film is not logical. The film is about feelings. It’s about music. It’s about detail. It’s about sensation. We’re gliding along, dancing along. Like the dancers onscreen. Certain gestures repeat. Certain motions repeat.

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