With his fitfully compelling biopic, “The White Crow,” actor
Ralph Fiennes (in his third feature as a director), tackles the life of
legendary and mercurial Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev. Based on Julie
Kavanagh’s biography “Rudolf Nureyev: The Life” and adapted by screenwriter
David Hare (“The Hours”), the film doesn’t require a prior knowledge or
particular love of ballet, centering mostly on Nureyev’s defection from the
Soviet Union to the West — the first Soviet artist during the Cold War to do
so.
Jumping between several periods in the dancer’s life, Hare’s
script gives us glimpses into Nureyev’s poverty-stricken childhood, followed by
training in Leningrad, and the Paris tour with the St. Petersburg-based Kirov
Ballet Company in 1961 that forms the main crux of the narrative. During this
time the dancer’s obsessive drive to be recognized as an artist, as well as his
embrace of Western culture and nightlife, creates clashes with his KGB handlers
and eventually leads to his taking drastic actions to secure the life that he
desires for himself.
Played by Ukrainian dancer Oleg Ivenko,
Nureyev is a difficult character to like. Arrogant and entitled, he clashes
with authority figures and anyone who betrays a shred of doubt about his
abilities. Even as a first-time actor, Ivenko acquits
himself quite well, delivering a remarkably natural performance.
In addition to directing, Fiennes appears as the dancer’s
unreasonably patient mentor Alexander Ivanovich
Pushkin, whose wife (Chulpan Khamatova)
ends up taking a particular interest in the young dancer. While in Paris,
Nureyev also forms a close relationship with French socialite Clara Saint (Adรจle Exarchopoulos, “Blue Is the
Warmest Color”), who plays a crucial role in the dancer’s later actions.
It’s to Fiennes’ credit that he never attempts to soften his
subject to make him more palatable to audiences, but in the end this does make
for a rather chilly watch. While Nureyev is a captivating figure and his life
makes for a fascinating story, the execution can be clumsy, with an unfocused
eye that values drama over dance. But strong performances from the entire cast
go a long way in holding our interest.
And the film builds to a surprisingly suspenseful conclusion
during its climactic standoff in the La Bourget airport, where the dancer makes
his fateful decision. It’s in this sequence that the film finds its urgency and
its examination of a life impulsively lived in pursuit of freedom, and finally
clicks into focus.
This article appears in Jun 5-11, 2019.
