IMDb > Nijinsky (1980)
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Overview

User Rating:
6.3/10   190 votes
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Director:
Herbert Ross
Writers:
Hugh Wheeler (screenplay)
Romola Nijinsky (book)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Nijinsky on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
24 September 1980 (France) more
Genre:
Biography | Drama more
Plot:
Set in the early 1910s at a time of passionate artistic experimentalism, and based on biographical fact... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
YouTube 'Alchemist' Makes Ballet Legend Dance
 (From newser. 22 June 2009, 5:44 PM, PDT)
Eleven Gay Historical Figures Worthy of the "Milk" Treatment
 (From AfterElton.com. 4 February 2009, 8:14 PM, PST)
User Comments:
sumptuous ballet film more (3 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Alan Bates ... Sergei Diaghilev
George De La Pena ... Vaslav Nijinsky
Leslie Browne ... Romola de Pulsky
Alan Badel ... Baron de Gunzburg
Carla Fracci ... Tamara Karsavina
Colin Blakely ... Vassili
Ronald Pickup ... Igor Stravinsky
Ronald Lacey ... Leon Bakst

Vernon Dobtcheff ... Sergei Grigoriev

Jeremy Irons ... Mikhail Fokine
Frederick Jaeger ... Gabriel Astruc
Anton Dolin ... Maestro Cecchetti
Janet Suzman ... Emilia Marcus
Stephan Chase ... Adolph Bolm
Hetty Baynes ... Magda
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
UK:129 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby
Certification:
Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | USA:R
Company:
Hera Productions more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
'Ken Russell' was offered the chance to direct the film. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Fade to Black (1980) more
Soundtrack:
CARNAVAL more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful.
sumptuous ballet film, 13 February 2005
7/10
Author: didi-5 from United Kingdom

This little-seen film by Herbert Ross chooses to focus on the rise and fall of Vaslav Nijinsky, petulant and superb dancer, and his stormy relationship with his producer-lover, Sergei Diaghilev. This story from with the heart of Ballet Russes has been well-documented before and here we see the descent into madness of a great, if unhinged artist.

George De La Pena plays the title role, and his dancing is a dream. Alan Bates is excellent as Diaghilev, all repressed passion and deep thoughts. The film tries its best to portray this unorthodox relationship with the ballet at its core, but doesn't quite get there - a sign of the times, perhaps? A strength of 'Nijinsky' is the dance sequences which are replicated as they would have originally been performed, right up to the scandalous performance of the Fawn piece. The scenes where the unhappy dancer is confined to an asylum have less power but are as valid as any other sequence in the film.

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