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 & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Oleg Ivenko	...	Rudolf Nureyev
Ralph Fiennes	...	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 | male rear nudity | male frontal nudity | bare chested male | defection | 

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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, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,818,771, 21 July 2019

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

Hayden Christensen, who trained extensively in ballet as a child, was first choice to star; however a persistent ankle injury prevented him from being able to perform to the standards demanded by Ralph Fiennes.

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Goofs

In a scene showing a close up of Nureyev's foot performing a tendu, the shoe he is wearing is a white split sole ballet slipper, a shoe that did not exist in the 1960s. Split sole ballet technique shoes have only been on the dance scene since the mid 1990s.

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Connections

Referenced in Evening Urgant: Ravshana Kurkova/Aleksey Fedorchenko/Marta Kozlova (2019)

User Reviews

Dancing Through the Iron Curtain

Ralph Fiennes foray into direction started with a modernized adaption of a lesser known Shakespeare play, Coriolanus. In between this and his latest effort (White Crow) was a rather unextraordinary effort about Charles Dickens, but his latest effort is notable for Fiennes working in another language, albeit one he speaks fairly well. Still I can't think of many British directors that make films in a different language.

White Crow is about legendary ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev (Oleg Ivenko) and his defection from the Soviet Union to the West whilst on a tour in Paris. Fiennes' film about the iconic ballet dancer was never going to be a film about the dancing, this is clear because of the time period the film focuses on. Due to the fact that the film focuses on the period of time where Rudolf defected from the USSR the film is about the different ideologies of communist USSR the capitalist West, their different ways of life and different levels of personal choice and freedom granted to its citizens.

In the regard the film is an interesting watch as it compares the two worlds. The reaction of the tour group to Paris when they first arrived was one of wonder at this world of culture and freedom. Nureyev's reaction is central to the film as he makes the most of the chance to explore the city of Paris. He visits the celebrated art galleries, marveling at the masterpieces restricted by his regime. Emphasis is added to the French motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité emblazed on the statue in the center of Place de la Republique to highlight what is nonexistent in his homeland.

The tour group make the most of this chance to experience the freedom of the West. The freedom to shop, watch great theatre in the grandest of buildings and drink merrily into the night. But there's always the threat of the KBG and their bureaucrats attempting to stamp out any threat of westernization that may infect and topple the regime. There is always an uneasy feeling leering over Nureyev anytime he doesn't tow the party line, especially when he becomes more acquainted with his new western friends.

As the film is more about the politics than the dancing I do feel the ballet was neglected. I knew nothing of the man before the film and I never convincingly sold as to why people considered him the greatest male dancer of his generation. Only experts can tell the difference between a good dancer and a great dancer and whilst the film highlighted Nureyev's ability to dominate the stage I still never fully understood what made him so great.

The dancing is still important to the film, and the ballet scenes are beautifully filmed. Oleg Ivenko is a dancer himself so I am comfortable in the authenticity of these scenes, but I felt he was more at home when dancing or speaking in his native language then he was speaking English. His performance is good, but at times I felt he was slightly wooden when speaking in English (but the scene in the airport is an incredible sequence). Any with scene with his German boyfriend was painful to watch due to the blandness of their chemistry.

It's an impressive effort from Fiennes who clearly took this project to heart looking deeply into the heart of the matter as to why Nureyev defected from his homeland.