The series Ballet is wonderful.
I generally don't like Russian cinema. But I watched this one because of Alla Sigalova, who herself is a work of art. In an interview with her, Strelets noted that people say Sigalova "played herself." But she replied: Not at all. I would never have acted so foolishly as the protagonist did-I would never have gone back (in every sense).
This film is about a young ballerina who escapes to the U. S. to flee KGB prosecution. Many years later, she returns to modern Russia to bring the spirit of freedom to the Bolshoi Theatre and teach young dancers how to improvise, listen to themselves, and be free in their creativity.
In the process, they create something beautiful, and she manages to plant some seeds.
But it also turns out that, despite all the changes, the capital is still covered in Soviet dust and the spirit of the '90s, so the choreographer is forced to return to exile.
It's a story about the rebellion of freedom against unfreedom, courage against cowardice, the artist against the bureaucrat. The cool thing is that this story was even told in Russia in 2023.
P. S. As usual, I found some of the dialogues over-the-top in their crude vulgarity, but then I recently listened to an interview with Vasily Yakemenko and realized-it's not the screenwriters' imagination. Some people really do talk like that. 😬
