In honor of the hype that Black Swan has generated I have decided to dedicate my first post to films that deal with the harsh realities of being in the ballet business. Have you ever noticed that films with this theme always deal with some sort of tragic downfall of a beautiful dancer? She work hard to be the best and the pay off is usually her faced with a difficult decision and deals with it by throwing herself off a ledge either literally or figuratively.
Let's start the examination with probably the best film dealing with the life of a dancer 1948's The Red Shoes. This film features on of the most beautiful dance scene ever to appear on screen. Moira Shearer dances off the stage and into colorful universe. Mixing stage and cinematic magic makes this one of the greatest pieces of eye candy. It seems that the movie would go in to a positive direction after this. She finally gains the coveted position as star ballerina. She receives large amounts of praise and adoration from her fans and peers. Well that lasts about 10 minutes before things get rather ugly. And by rather ugly I mean that the prima ballerina falls in love with the composer/ musical director of the ballet much to the chagrin of the company director. Apparently that is taboo. So what happens? The pissed company director fires the young composer making his principal dancer upset. She then up and quits to go off and marry her beau. Of course the honeymoon wears off after a while and with hubby back to composing she has the urge to dance again. While running into the jilted company director she is invited to dance her famed part once again. All might have ended well if she had told her spouse before running off to Monte Carlo the night before his big concert. Now the shit starts to hit the fan as she is faced with choosing between her two loves, her husband and dancing. Thoroughly conflicted in her dressing room she runs up to balcony and pulls an Anna Karenina. It just so happens that the theater neighbors a train station. Why? Couldn't she have both a career and successful marriage? Why the hell does the company director but in to people's private lives? The movie makes a point to show the grueling lifestyle of a dancer. The endless rehearsals, the early nights, and restricted diets. She is literally a slave to her art. However, this is beautiful piece of cinema and if you haven't seen it then you are missing out.
The next film I want to focus on does not have anybody committing suicide, but does deal with regret. The Turning Point (1977) has a little bit of a more positive ending, but there is a cat fight scene between Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft. The plot is that MacLaine gave up dancing after becoming pregnant. 20 years later she still can not let go because old Bancroft is a star. So like any other resentful parent she leads her eldest down the road she has left. So while her daughter is off to fame Bancroft is about to go off into retirement (she was in her mid forties by then). Tensions arise to the surface as Bancroft becomes mentor to the young gun. MacLaine gets even more pissed off and confronts her and slap fight worthy of Dynasty ensues (See Above). Of course this movie would not be complete without a romantic subplot. Daughter dearest (Leslie Browne) hooks up with horny Russian male dancer, Mikhail Baryshnikov. He turns out to have a wandering eye so her heart gets broken and she turns back to dancing. Meanwhile the two bickering broads make up and accept their lives the way they are. It seems happy, but Shirley MacLaine constantly has look of despair throughout the whole two hours. I just wanted to slap her and tell to deal with it. She has a doting husband and three obedient kids, as well as ballet school. It's not like she's living alone in a rundown apartment with 25 cats.
I was in the seventh grade when Hollywood crapped out Center Stage (2000). With a cast of nobodies and the whole rival ending up in a close friendship cliche, this was just nothing more than WB series condensed in to an hour and a half. This film has some negative sub plots, scorned lover triangle, bulimic ballerina, and career threatening. But that all raps up nicely in a little bow at the end. It would have been way better if some body had thrown themselves under a train. That would have made up for the unhealthy amounts of saccharine forced down the audiences throats.
Finally, I will now give my two cents in on the latest dancer drama. Black Swan was a pretty good film. I literally had nightmares about Barbara Hershey for days. Her performance as a domineering stage mom is worth the ticket price. As a straight woman I could have done without the lesbian sex scene and with more of a less clothed Vincent Cassel, but that is just me. One warning about the film: it is a definite mind fuck. You have to digest the film afterwards, but that is why it so powerful. Also, the ending and some of the dance sequences are very much reminiscent of The Red Shoes. Now go see the damn movie!
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