Anthony_NYC Posted April 13, 2006 Author Share Posted April 13, 2006 Who could play him today? An actor with a Russian accent who is also a dancer that worked with him. Baryshnikov. That's a great idea. But then, who will play Baryshnikov? Link to comment
chrisk217 Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 canbelto, that was so funny I especially appreciated the thud. And the wild looks, left and right, lol!!! But we both forgot the "From the heart of Russia into the hearts of the world - the inspiring true story of a remarkable man" line.... No biopic trailer is ever complete without the "inspiring true story of a remarkable somebody" somewhere in there Link to comment
carbro Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I think we should lock chris217 and canbelto in a room together -- feed them well and see that all possible needs and whims are satisfied -- and never let Hollywood see the result! Link to comment
canbelto Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I've revised the trailer: Booming male voice: "In a world of beauty and passion.... there was a man... obsessed with women.... and one woman... who dared follow her heart" The opening notes of Swan Lake plays ... Snippet of young Suzanne trying on her ballet shoes. Cut to Suzanne running into her house saying, "Mother! I've been accepted!!!" Scene of Suzanne walking into class, meeting Mr. B for the first time. Mr. B turns around, and says, "Hello, dear." Voiceover: "With those two words, her life had changed forever." Cut to Balanchine whispering: "Dance for me, Suzanne" ... dancing ensues, audience applauds wildly. Camera takes a circular scan of the applauding audience and then back to Suzanne ... Voiceover: "What started out as love of art turned into passion for each other." Cut to Mr. B whispering, "I am Don Quixote, and you are my Dulcinea!" Cut to opening night of Don Quixote, with Mr. B and Suzanne exchanging loving looks at each other. Thunderous applause. Voiceover: "But with any great love comes great heartbreak." Cut to Mr. B saying, "I love you Suzanne," with Suzanne responding, "But you are a married man!" Cut to Suzanne tearfully pleading: "I want to be free...." Booming male voice: "Fate has brought them together... now love will tear them apart..." Frantic montage ensues, with shots of Suzanne looking wildly in each direction as Balanchine says: "Stay with me... I will make you a star..." Cut to Paul saying, "Marry me, Suzanne." Cut to Suzanne shouting "Let me go, let me go!!!!" Cut to Mr. B saying, "You are my Dulcinea. I cannot let you go." Booming voice: "What will she choose?" More thunderous Swan Lake music as tutu skirts twirls wildly and the pointe shoe hits the stage floor with a hard thud accompanied by the thunderous ending chords of the Swan Lake overture. Then (booming male voice again): "Balanchine... the ballet master... coming soon to a theater near you" Link to comment
bart Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 These posts inspire awe. But I have to ask a question, quite sincerely, as someone who does not go very often to movie theaters. Do they really produce and SCREEN such trailers any more. I would swear, in reading canbelto and chrisk217, that you were channelling a publicityi department from the 1950s. Robert Taylor as Balanchine; Ava Gardner as Suzanne; Jack Palance as the shade of Diaghelev; Russ Tamblyn as Jacques d'Amboise. Link to comment
sandik Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Jack Palance as the shade of Diaghelev I'm sorry, but all I can think of is Palance on the Academy Awards, doing pushups -- something I don't think Serge Diaghilev would even recognize! Link to comment
chrisk217 Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Alas, bart, they do!!! I'm young and I have no idea about the 50s but I have sat through many of them in the 90s and 00s... Link to comment
Helene Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 And, sadly, many trailers are better than the movie itself. Or at least more entertaining. Link to comment
canbelto Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Ok, I'm having way too much fun. Going with the young Balanchine/Ballet Russes storyline, here's my trailer: Booming male voice: "There once was a boy, who loved ballet ..." Montage of Balanchine as a boy at the barre, to Balanchine looking, wide-eyed, at ballerinas at the Mariinsky, to Balanchine dancing in the Nutcracker. (Nutcracker music plays in the background.) Voiceover: "But who would have thought that this little boy was also a genius?" Montage of a young Balanchine playfully "choreographing" a little dance with his fellow Mariinsky students. Cuts to Balanchine as a young man, meeting Diaghilev for the first time. Diaghilev takes off his hat, turns around, and says (while smoking a pipe), "I want you to create ballets for my company." Cut to Balanchine meeting Stravinsky for the first time. Cut to Balanchine, musing, "I have always loved the Greek myths ..." Cut to rehearsals for Apollo. Voiceover: "But this genius's vision was still being controlled by one man." Menacing music in the background. Cut to Diaghilev, banging his cane, shouting, "This is *my* company, and you create what *I* want!" Balanchine replying, "But this is my ballet!" Cut to rehearsals with Serge Lifar, shouting, "This is not ballet! I will not dance!" Cut to wild applause as Balanchine steps onstage ... Menacing chords abruptly end, screen fadeous to black, and in huge letters, on the screen, "BALANCHINE. THE BALLET MASTER." Link to comment
dirac Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 But I have to ask a question, quite sincerely, as someone who does not go very often to movie theaters. Do they really produce and SCREEN such trailers any more. I would swear, in reading canbelto and chrisk217, that you were channelling a publicityi department from the 1950s. Robert Taylor as Balanchine; Ava Gardner as Suzanne; Jack Palance as the shade of Diaghelev; Russ Tamblyn as Jacques d'Amboise. Trailers these days are of such length and detail that in some cases they give the entire picture away. Not to mention that you have to sit through about half a dozen of them. Jacques d’Amboise would have played Jacques d’Amboise in the fifties, no? Link to comment
bart Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 I'm sorry, but all I can think of is Palance on the Academy Awards, doing pushups -- something I don't think Serge Diaghilev would even recognize! I see your point, sandik. One of the qualities of 50s studio casting that I have the most affection for was the frequent over-the-top miscasting. Taylor and Gardner struck me as plausible 50s casting, since they would be playing themselves and their big gorgeous faces, and only incidentally Mr. B and Suzanne. Palance as Diaghelev I just tacked on as the reductio of all possible absurdums. I wonder who would have been cast as a Diaghelev type in the 50s? Link to comment
dirac Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 carbro wrote: Orson Welles? Yup. Maybe Charles Laughton. Jose Ferrer, perhaps, if they wanted someone skinnier. Link to comment
canbelto Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Well Anton Walbrook was cast as Diaghilev in The Red Shoes. That was a thinly disguised movie about the Ballet Russes. Link to comment
dirac Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Well Anton Walbrook was cast as Diaghilev in The Red Shoes. That was a thinly disguised movie about the Ballet Russes. “The Red Shoes” took off from the Diaghilev/Nijinsky story, yes (and the Balanchine-Farrell saga was a real life variant), but the picture wasn’t a biopic per se. Link to comment
Quiggin Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Yes, Charles Laughton for Diaghilev in the 50's, maybe also Peter Ustinov. James Mason would have been an inspired choice. Claude Rains or Adolph Menjou in the 1930s. Mr. B is more difficult because he was such a cipher. Jeremy Irons above sounds good to me. A directorial choice for the film could be Raoul Ruiz--who did Time Regained of Proust--or Manuel de Olviera, who probably saw the original Ballet Russes. Both choices would defy easy--or any!--interpretations of Mr. B.'s life and relationships. Link to comment
atm711 Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 For Balanchine? Yves Montand---we need someone with a bit of class.---and yes, a slimmed down Orson Welles for Diaghilev. Link to comment
chrisk217 Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Perhaps I'm crazy but I'd love to see Stephen Fry as Diaghilev. I can think of no one better to play a snob, an aesthete and a charmer. The unpleasant side of Diaghilev's character might be a bit of a stretch for him but he may manage, who knows? Link to comment
carbro Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Of those mentioned, Jeremy Irons may be the best to portray Balanchine, but I'm not completely comfortable. Is Frank Langella, who has proved an extraordinary character actor, a possibility? Wrong physicality (as with Irons), but I think he could "get" something of Balanchine's elusive essence. Link to comment
Helene Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Perhaps I'm crazy but I'd love to see Stephen Fry as Diaghilev.What a great suggestion! Link to comment
Farrell Fan Posted April 15, 2006 Share Posted April 15, 2006 Is Frank Langella, who has proved an extraordinary character actor, a possibility? Wrong physicality (as with Irons), but I think he could "get" something of Balanchine's elusive essence. It would be fitting to have Langella as Balanchine, since he is the narrator of the Balanchine documentary that inspired Anthony NYC to raise this topic. Link to comment
Anthony_NYC Posted April 16, 2006 Author Share Posted April 16, 2006 Yes, i could definitely see Stephen Fry as Diaghilev. And how about Ben Kingsley as Stravinsky, Liam Neeson as Kirstein, and Nikolai Hübbe as Peter Martins? As for Suzanne Farrell, let's face it, nobody could play her, not the person and certainly not the dancer! She should be portrayed by a stream of light that morphs unpredictably, sometimes appearing in the form of a radiant votive candle, sometimes like a fiery thunderbolt out of the blue. Link to comment
Farrell Fan Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 I like your thinking, Anthony. Link to comment
fandeballet Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Hey, lets have it as a six month soap opera!!!!!! Can you imagine having it on once or twice a week, with the preview of the next show!!!!! Dallas or Knots Landing would look like fairy tales. Here is the title......."The Passions of Master Balachine" :rolleyes: Seriously, how about letting Ken Burns do it as a docu/drama?? Link to comment
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