Thanks God I have nice friends who appreciate my movie choices, so there was never a doubt about checking this one out - a little escape out of mainstream cash box mega hits and predictable car crashing explosions - we were actually both excited and curious about seeing biopic of Rudolf Nureyev although our ignorance about his life was both touching and plus, as we enjoyed the movie without knowing much about his background. For some reason I just assumed the movie will be in English (because of its director) so it came as shock to find out I had to deal with Russian with Dutch subtitles (after all, we were watching this in Amsterdam) but as usual, it was not a problem for me, I have already watched French, Spanish and even Japanese movies with Dutch subtitles and found out that when I'm really into a movie, language is not a barrier at all.
Ralph Fiennes directed this one and its very clear that someone with artistic sensibility holds the reigns - in my mind he is forever associated with role of SS officer in "Schindler's List" but there is of course much more to him, here he carefully avoids anything bombastic and in fact creates very evocative atmosphere of cold war, where politics control the fate of individuals. He also gives wonderfully restrained performance as ballet master who nurtures young, wild and immensely talented dancer who will eventually became world famous Nureyev. The role of Nureyev is played by charismatic real-life Russian dancer Oleg Ivenko who is actually genuinely magnetic, although physically there is only a slight resemblance between them, but that was not the point - what Ivenko brings to the movie is impression of a untamed, young country bumpkin who has neither patience or social skills to ease his way into higher spheres of heavily organised Soviet system where art is financed and therefore controlled by government.
Even at home amongst his own colleagues, he is outsider who does not search for company and prefers reading books - once he finds himself on European tour, he is thrilled with sense of freedom and all the art he encounters - I was personally very moved with the way he actively searches famous museums and galleries of Paris, to soak in all the beauty he knew only from books, something I often did myself once I found myself around the world. Strange how we crave beauty above all the other things, when my work colleagues would all go to McDonalds, I was the one who went exploring museums and loved every moment of it.
Towards the end of the movie, the big finale eventually arrives - and I must admit that Fiennes does wonderful job of building the climax, where we suddenly realise that government officials won't allow Nureyev to travel further with the rest of Mariinsky Ballet troupe but they are sending him back to Soviet Union with some false explanation. Being who he was, Nureyev won't mildly comply but creates scandal on the Paris airport, where eventually he asked for asylum and escapes the clutches of Soviet officials for good. From now he is not able to travel back home anymore, but the international career is open to him and he will become world famous. I must admit that I enjoyed the movie very much and was actively pouring over Nureyev video clips afterwards, its really a gripping story. Ah yes, Nureyev's homosexuality is treated very matter of factly and it was never the main issue, it was kind of obvious and not a big deal, in fact movie strongly suggest that he was perfectly fine with both genders if occasion came his way.
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