The White Crow (2018)

The story of Rudolf Nureyev's defection to the West.

Director:

Ralph Fiennes

Writers:

David Hare (screenplay), Julie Kavanagh (Inspired by her book: "Rudolf Nureyev: The Life")

Stars:

Oleg Ivenko, Ralph Fiennes, Louis Hofmann

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Oleg Ivenko	...	Rudolf Nureyev
Ralph Fiennes	...	Aleksandr Ivanovich Pushkin
Louis Hofmann	...	Teja Kremke
Adèle Exarchopoulos	...	Clara Saint
Sergei Polunin	...	Yuri Soloviev
Olivier Rabourdin	...	Alexinsky
Raphaël Personnaz	...	Pierre Lacotte
Chulpan Khamatova	...	Xenia
Zach Avery	...	Michael Jones
Mar Sodupe	...	Helena Romero
Calypso Valois	...	Claire Motte
Aleksey Morozov	...	Strizhevsky
Nebojsa Dugalic	...	Konstantin Sergeyev
Igor Filipovic	...	Trofimkin
Yves Heck	...	Jagaud-Lachaume

Storyline

Director Ralph Fiennes captures the raw physicality and brilliance of Rudolf Nureyev, whose escape to the West stunned the world at the height of the Cold War. With his magnetic presence, Nureyev emerged as ballet's most famous star, a wild and beautiful dancer limited by the world of 1950s Leningrad. His flirtation with Western artists and ideas led him into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse with the KGB.

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Plot Keywords:

nudity | homosexual | gay | male rear nudity | male nudity | 

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Taglines:

In 1961, A Dazzling Rudolf Nureyev Arrives in Paris and Makes a Choice That Changes His Life Forever

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexuality, graphic nudity, and language.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

UK France Serbia

Language:

Russian English French

Release Date:

22 March 2019 (UK)

Also Known As:

The White Crow

Filming Locations:

France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$78,782, 28 April 2019

Gross USA:

$1,828,784

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,622,595

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Films, Magnolia Mae Films, Metalwork Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The James Bond character has long been associated with the Cold War. Actor Ralph Fiennes, who portrays M / Mallory in the James Bond films since 'Skyfall (2012), directed this dramatic biopic feature film, which was first released between the James Bond films 'Spectre' (2015) and 'Bond 25' (2020), and covers the defection from the former Soviet Union to the west of ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev. After a number of film festival screenings in 2018, 'The White Crow' (2018) started theatrically releasing widely in a number of territories from around March 2019 which was around the time when 'Bond 25' (2020) started filming.

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Goofs

A title card at one point says "The Mariinsky Theatre, Leningrad." However, the theater did not regain that historic Tsarist-era name until 1992. At the time the film is set, during the Soviet era, the building was known as The Kirov Theatre.

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Quotes

Rudolf Nureyev: I can live anywhere. Remember, I was born on a train. I feel I will never return to my country. But, I may never be happy in the US.

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Connections

Referenced in Evening Urgant: Ralph Fiennes/Nervy (2019)

User Reviews

Not Bad

This isn't bad. It's filmed and acted well. A minor quibble is the storyline jumps all over the place. So instead of going A-Z, it goes A-R-B-F-Z etc. This jumping timeline seems to be a trait in modern films at the moment. To be honest, I just find it annoying. I much prefer linear timelines. It's also about 20 minutes too long and it drags in places. Having said that, I did enjoy it and the ending was good. P.S. Nureyev did seem like an arrogant plank though. 6/10 does it for me.