canbelto

Film noir is a pretty sexist genre. I agree that what makes Gilda great is the love triangle that goes in all directions. Ford and MacReady's relationship is really creepy, especially the "kept man" nature of Ford's "occupation." And the constant cane, with the refrain, "It'll just be the three of us." But Gilda is a compelling romance because it takes the usual idea in noir (that females are dangerous fatales who will ruin Everyman's life by way of their sexuality) and adds on a twist, because the Ford character is even sleazier than Hayworth's character. Film noir is a contrast to that other very popular 30s/40s genre, which was the female weepie romance. In those cases, female sexuality is sublimated into saintliness and martyrdom. A great example of this would be Now, Voyager. When I first saw it I laughed. Yeah, so Jerry will "visit" Charlotte and Tina from time to time. But once I got over that initial hokiness, I thought Now, Voyager was among the best of the female weepie romance.

Well, Helene, every country needs its own "Brangelina." But Katia Gordeeva's father was a ballet dancer too. He was trained at the Bolshoi academy, and was quite disappointed that his daughter chose skating over ballet. So now we know where she got her grace.

This is not the first Russian dancer/skater pairing. Igor Zelensky used to date Katia Gordeeva. I know this because I read quite a few interviews that were posted on the boards in which he talked about Gordeeva. At the time he was dancing with the NYCB.

For those who are wondering about the Cagney/Baryshnikov resemblance: Cagney Mischa Alexandra Ansanelli looks sort of like Natalie Wood.

I can't believe no one found this, but it's been all over the figure skating boards, where Alexei Yagudin is a huge idol. But ... Yagudin and Somova marry Yagudin was one of my favorite skaters, and I wish the couple a happy life together!

Good one carbro! Bette Davis was quite adorable when she was young. Ooh totally forgot! Aurelie Dupont and Audrey Hepburn. Eleanora Abbagnato and Drea de Matteo. Don't believe me: Eleanora Drea

Helene thanks for the review. Whoa I totally got the casting wrong. When I first saw the cast, I was positive it was going to be: Dupont - Emeralds Osta/Gillot - Rubies Letetsu - Diamonds I guess I totally misjudged Parisian emploi.

I thought of some more: Daria Pavlenko with lighter hair could be Chloe Sevigny's sister. Veronika Part looks a lot like Ava Gardner. Olesia Novikova looks a lot like Svetlana Zakharova.

Jenifer Ringer looks a bit like Elizabeth Taylor. Irina Dvorovenko looks like Vivien Leigh. Elizabeth Platel looks like Maria Callas.

I was watching something last night and noticed the striking resemblance (nowadays) between Irma Nioradze and Joan Crawford. Not Mommie Dearest Joan Crawford, but MGM Joan Crawford. In the same vein, people have mentioned Margot Fonteyn and Audrey Hepburn. Sofiane Sylve looks a lot like Julia Stiles. And plenty of dancers look strikingly like other dancers. Paloma Herrera looks a lot like Maria Tallchief. Polina Semionova IMO resembles Natalya Bessmertnova. Uliana Lopatkina and Merrill Ashley. Can anyone think of any more?

One dancer I've noticed that doesn't have an easy, solid arabesque is Miranda Weese. She has the flexibility, but I've seen her several times and her legs all of a sudden lock at the strangest times.

Alexandrova was also the Myrtha in a commercially released Giselle from the Bolshoi with Lunkina and Tsiskiradze. Unfortunately I don't think this dvd release ever found its way out of Russia. I assume it was released to celebrate the mounting of the Vasiliev production, as he comes out for a bow at the end (looking as handsome as ever). Lunkina is a beautiful, if somewhat reserved, Giselle, and Tsisrikadze and Alexandrova are both excellent. Alexandrova must have the best grande jete after Maya Plisetskaya.

Although rather dark and perverse, I think Gilda is a compelling romance. Rita Hayworth is every bit as sexy as everyone says she is, and both she and Ford do very well in portraying a sadomasochistic, love-hate relationship.

Well considering how some of Fonteyn's "favorite people" included Pinochet and Imelda Marcos, I'd have to say that Clark's statement was sad but true ... Must. Have. This. Dvd.

Thanks I saw the clips! I cringe at all of the gun running footage. I just think it was horrible for Tito to involve his wife in something like that. But it does seem like an engrossing documentary, and I can't wait to see the whole thing.

How are the dancing clips? Is there new stuff that we haven't seen? And who's interviewed? di Valois? Ashton? Nureyev? Keith Money? Other Royal Ballet dancers? Although I know this film will be released on dvd in a month I am just really curious about this film. Its like, I want to see it, NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

I think this film is going to be released in the U.S. on June 27. I really want to see it, if it's 3 hours long. Margot was set to go through with the divorce before Tito got shot, but his paralysis killed that idea, excuse the pun. And taking care of Tito's medical problems drained Margot's finances terribly. It seems terribly unfair to Margot, all the suffering she went through for a man who was unfaithful to her to the end. (His mistress shot herself the day Tito died. This is all documented in the Daneman book.) Reading about Margot and Tito always makes me almost as sad as reading about Tracy and Hepburn's off-screen life. I think the only man who was truly loyal to Margot was Nureyev, despite the blowups they had.

I have some more time now, and I can elaborate on why this performance fails overall. For one, the oft-mentioned lack of emphasis on "feet" at the Bolshoi was something I just read about, but this is the one performance where I can see it very clearly, and in very ungainly ways. For instance, Mikhalchenko's arabesques and attitudes, so crucial to this role, are often done with her feet sticking out in a way that totally ruins the classical line. Also, the lack of uniform turnout ruins the lines of swans -- their feet, and therefore their legs, do not move as one. They move at the same time, but not in the same way. I have never seen the Bolshoi this bad on video before or since. I assume this was just a very, very unfortunately preserved performance.

The Bolshoi's Swan Lake starring Alla Mikhalchenko and Vasyuchenko is certainly not one of the Bolshoi's best videos! In fact I'd say it is one of their worst. It seems to have been a performance where nothing clicked. The Bolshoi Swans were inexplicably snail-paced and leaden. Mikhalchenko either is having a bad day or is not really suited for Odette/Odile. She's very leaden, very tentative, shaky at times. She also cuts little things in the choreography, like she doesn't do the foot beats at the end of the Swan Lake adagio. But mostly her performance just never takes off. I also really dislike Yuri Grigorivich's production, which gives more dancing opportunities to Rothbart than to Siegfried practically. And I dislike the flock of black swans in Act 3 (or in this case Act 2 Scene 1), especially since Grigorivich uses music that is mostly used at the very end of Act 4. The random musical shuffling also grates on my nerves. Mostly Grigorovich always wants to have too many people onstage at the same time. This is also an issue in his Nutcracker. The Bolshoi has many great videos, but this is not one of them.

One thing that puzzled me about the Apollo clips is why Farrell's hair looked so dark. Did she dye it brown or something, because it looked darker than I've ever seen it.

My favorite part was "Send in the Clowns." Ah, I love that song. Otherwise, I'm disappointed they showed the weakest part of Makarova's Odette/Odile (her fouettes), and that they showed such a brief clip of Giselle. I would have shown the pdd's from both ballets, even in clips. Did Mr. B really have shots of vodka set outside the State Theater? I always thought that was a joke on his part and that only he actually downed any vodka.

I find this incredibly implausible, given the huge DVD boom of archived arts performances that are now sold on kultur or VAI or DG or any number of labels. I mean, Kultur releases a 1966 film of Romeo and Juliet, and it's obviously sold well enough to be still on the market. VAI releases Maria Tallchief's Bell Telephone Hour performances. So there's markets for these performances but not for a Swan Lake with Makarova and Nagy? Sorry, I don't get it. It also seems like he's very fixated on the word "live," and doesn't seem to realize that many recorded performances are/were "live" and they have been released commercially. I honestly don't get it.

This is a question that's been bugging me for awhile. How come in some Sleeping Beauty productions the Prince is named Desire, and others Florimund? And in Nutcrackers, why the Clara/Marie/Masha split? I've never understood this.

Does anyone know when and if it's going to be shown on PBS? I assume it's going to be shown after the dvd becomes available ...

Also great is the collection called "ballets." You click on each ballet and there are photos, historical and modern, of the ballet. My personal favorite is "Jewels." There's a photograph of Mr. B with his original Jewels - Violette Verdy, Patricia McBride, and Suzanne Farrell. Also fascinating is the picture of the original Apollo - Serge Lifar. He looks nothing like the blond gods that now seem to be standard for the role. Wonderful pictures of Karsavina and Nijinsky. It's really just an amazing site, although, like Helene, I have to turn my computer to mute.