Susan Granger’s review of “The White Crow” (Sony Pictures Classics)
The title of director Ralph Fiennes’ kaleidoscopic biopic about the early life of dancer Rudolf Nureyev (Oleg Ivenko) refers to a Russian expression meaning an “odd bird.”
Nureyev’s story begins in 1961, just after he’s defected to the West, as his mentor/teacher Alexander Pushkin (Ralph Fiennes) is questioned by government agents. That’s followed by a confusing flashbacks.
Born on a Trans-Siberian train in 1938, Nureyev had an impoverished childhood in Ufa – which Fiennes films as devoid of color. Uninterested in children’s games, young Rudy fantasized about traveling to faraway places. When his mother smuggled Rudy and his sisters into a ballet performance, his future was sealed.
Nureyev spent his formative years at Leningrad’s Vaganova Ballet Academy, known as a feeder for the Kirov Ballet (now called the Mariinsky). Substituting ferocious passion for technique, he rebelled against classical authority, becoming known for his perfectionism and arrogance.
When the Kirov went on tour to Paris, mercurial Nureyev dismissed ‘official’ outings, preferring to visit museums and galleries by himself or accompanied by French friends – like socialite Clara Saint (Adele Exarchopoulos), daughter of the notable Chilean artist.
Reprimanded by Soviet authorities, Nureyev was told he would not travel with the Kirov to London. Rather than return to Moscow, he sought asylum at Paris’ La Bouget Airport. That’s where the film ends.
Too bad they didn’t include his subsequent Royal Ballet partnership with British ballerina Margot Fonteyn and, later, his work at the Paris Opera Ballet in the 1980s. After becoming a bona-fide jet-setter, bisexual Nureyev died from AIDS in 1993.
Based on Julie Kavanagh’s “Nureyev: The Life,” David Hare’s fragmented script emphasizes the physical, mental and emotional dedication required of Nureyev to rise to the top of his profession, becoming the most significant influence on male ballet technique and style since Vaslav Nijinsky.
Unfortunately, 26 year-old Oleg Ivenko, a talented Ukrainian dancer with the Tatar State Ballet in Kazan, Russia, lacks Nureyev’s charismatic sensuality.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The White Crow” is a sinewy 7, skipping the balletomane frenzy of “Black Swan” and “The Red Shoes.”
