Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man (2000)

A child is born. We see underwater swimmers representing this. He is young, in a jungle setting, with two fanciful "instincts" guiding him as swooping bird-like acrobats initially menace, ... See full summary »

Director:

Keith Melton

Writers:

Steve Roberts, Peter Wagg

Stars:

Ian McKellen, Nicky Dewhurst, Brian Dewhurst

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ian McKellen	...	Narrator (voice)
Nicky Dewhurst	...	Young Man
Brian Dewhurst	...	Old Man
Anait Karagyezyan	...	Vagabond Girl
Chris Van Wagenen	...	Youth
Kenny Raskin	...	Man
Cully Smoller	...	Infant / Child
Mikhail Matorin	...	Cube Act
Yves Decoste	...	Statue Act
Marie-Laure Mesnage	...	Statue Act
Jennifer Clément	...	Character Statue Act (Mephisto Stilt Demon)
Konstantine Besschetnyj	...	Banquine
Yelena Kolesnikova	...	Banquine
Aleksandr Leontiev	...	Banquine
Oleg Ouchakov	...	Banquine

Storyline

A child is born. We see underwater swimmers representing this. He is young, in a jungle setting, with two fanciful "instincts" guiding him as swooping bird-like acrobats initially menace, then delight. As an adolescent, he enters a desert, where a man spins a large cube of metal tubing. He leaves his instinct-guides behind, and enters a garden where two statues dance in a pond. As he watches their sensual acrobatics of love, he becomes a man. He is offered wealth (represented by a golden hat) by a devil figure. In a richly decorated room, a scruffy troupe of a dozen acrobats and a little girl reawaken the old man's youthful nature and love.

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Plot Keywords:

love | acrobat | acrobatics | cube | statue | 

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Taglines:

The journey is about to begin...

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Genres:

Documentary | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Sony

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 May 2000 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Cirque du Solei: A sors cirkusza

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$49,837 (USA) (5 May 2000)

Gross:

$15,186,747 (USA) (2 May 2003)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

39 min

Sound Mix:

IMAX 6-Track DTS 70 mm

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.44 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Hot Tub Time Machine/Chloe/How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

User Reviews

40 minutes that I can't get back.

Let's just get it out of the way -- this film is artsy to a major fault. Instead of focusing on the talent and showmanship of Cirque de Soleil, it instead tries to take us on a whirlwind tour of a man's life. Needless to say, the "plot" falls flat, and the "instinct" characters are annoying at best. They detract from the rest of the action.

By the end of the film I was quite dissapointed -- the whole idea is good, but poorly executed and only manages to send the audience scrambling for the exit -- which was the case in our showing. People were pushing each other out of the way to leave!

The worst part of everything about watching this film was trying not to crack up and make jokes at the screen a la MST3K. It's prime material, which is a real shame considering the talent of Cirque de Soleil. Definitely skip this movie.