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Nijinsky (1980)

One of the movie's taglines was "The First Ten Minutes of This Motion Picture Will Shock You. Then its beauty and human emotions will overwhelm you," but all that happened was that Alan Bates (as Diaghilev) kisses George de la Pena (as Nijinsky) in their hotel room. Supposedly they had thought about showing more, but De la Pena was straight and uptight and uncomfortable doing anything more.

Bates is terrific, and the recreations of Ballet Russes productions are nearly letter perfect, as are the recreations of the Edwardian hotels and train lobbies. De la Pena actually looks quite a bit like Nijinsky, and was a star soloist with the New York Ballet, and he even works really hard at the crazy scenes; but he's unlikable in a part that has to be lovable. And although Leslie Browne is exquisitely beautiful, God knows what Herbert Ross saw in her as an actress--she is completely incompetent in this, just as she was in "The Turning Point."

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by Anonymousreply 2December 13, 2018 5:04 AM

Beautiful to look at, but stilted drama. Dull to watch. And those dancers couldn’t act.

by Anonymousreply 1December 13, 2018 4:59 AM

"Valentino" came out just a few years before it, and was very similar in style and tone, and also had a scene with Valentino dancing with Nijinsky in NYC. Rudolf Nureyev, as Valentino, was another dancer who couldn't act very well either, but at least he was incredibly hot (and had some nude scenes). George de la Pena just wasn't very hot.

by Anonymousreply 2December 13, 2018 5:04 AM
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