The White Crow, based on the book by Julie Kavanagh - Eight out of 10

The White Crow, based on the book by Julie Kavanagh

Eight out of 10

This is a note on the film inspired by the book…

There is a lot to like – presumably – in this motion picture that has an intriguing, provocative, admired, outré, fascinating artist, Rudolf Nureyev, at the center, the story of a daring escape, the background of the Soviet oppression, the KGB and its activities – the outfit that has given the world the infamous Putin, and through him the orange fool now sitting, watching TV, tweeting up to 100 times before known – it isn’t as if he has some important job to do anyway – attacking the great Greta Thunberg and a myriad others in the White House.

Ralph Fiennes is a fabulous actor, most famous probably for his roles in The English Patient and as the loathsome Nazi in Schindler’s List, among other phenomenal performances and this cinephile has loved The Invisible Woman, where, just like for The White Crow, the actor is also the director - http://notesaboutfilms.blogspot.com/2017/08/note-on-invisible-woman-starring-and.html

Alas, albeit he is excellent as Aleksandr Ivanovich Pushkin, the most important teacher, the mentor of the young, upcoming, brilliant ballet dancer that would amaze the world, Ralph Fiennes has not been so inspired, at least in the view of the under signed, when he has selected Oleg Ivenko to interpret the main character of the film.

The narrative is nevertheless compelling, offering insight into the workings of the Soviet Union- surely relevant and worth watching now that the likes of Corbyn, the self-entitled socialist Sanders and the too leftist Elizabeth Warren have attracted so many supporters, have so many fans that should watch more stories about the glories of the communist regimes – as one who has lived under Ceausescu and still ‘benefit ‘from that miraculous doctrine, I have no patience for those on the far left…

The soviets have been very close to destroying the career of Rudolph Nureyev – and we can only guess how many geniuses, scientists, artists have been dispatched to the gulag and other such horrendous camps and been wiped from the face of the earth, depriving humanity of who knows how much progress in the arts and sciences.

In one scene, the famous dancer has to argue with an apparatchik, one of the infamous bureaucracy, figures out of The Trial by Kafka, who insists that the artist has to travel to some god forsaken place, a small town in the middle of nowhere – or maybe right in the middle of Siberia – and perform there because the Soviet State has given him the papers and the order to go.

The under signed knows about this, for he has graduated Geophysics and was told to move his ass to the Danube, at Drobeta Turnu Severin and since he did not want that, he has had to change careers and thus never worked a day in his life in the field he had trained for more than five years in.

As for Nureyev, there are some awkward moments when he travels with the Ballet to Paris, where he is searching for ‘special shop’ which sells trains, he is followed by the KGB, allowed to walk around only when he has a ‘tail’ and wherever he travels, there are agents shadowing him…

Very interesting, indeed, even fascinating as the narrative could be and it actually is, it is affected – on the subjective side, the opinion of this viewer – by the lack of charisma, or maybe the insufficient magic that Oleg Ivenko may or may not have, depending on how you look at it.