NUREYEV

This documentary from BAFTA nominated directors Jacqui and David Morris traces the extraordinary life of Rudolf Nureyev. From his birth in the 5th class carriage of a trans-Siberian train, to his dramatic leap to freedom in the West at the height of the Cold War, and unprecedented adulation as the most famous dancer in the world. The film highlights Nureyev’s unlikely yet legendary partnership with Margot Fonteyn and charts his meteoric rise to the status of global cultural phenomenon.

Nureyev himself provides much of the commentary in the film, ranging from lengthy excerpts from his diaries read by Welsh actress Sian Phillips and excerpts from television interviews, including illuminating exchanges with a clearly awestruck Dick Cavett.  Richard Avedon, after shooting a series of extremely sensual black-and-white photographs of the dancer, observed, “His whole body was responding to a kind of wonder at himself. A narcissistic orgy of some kind…an orgy of one.” Need we say more.

Nureyev’s life plays out like the sweeping plot of a classic Russian novel. His story is Russia’s story. (109 min)