Uccelli del paradiso

Reads as a cliche, that attempts to be an original. The attempt succeeded, in humanising the expected villains of the story. It examines the full variety of motivations of goal driven people and you find yourself rooting for people to find the best version of themself. It manages to reflect who we are, when we are in similar situations. It is not a fairytale in the end, and realistically dark when it should be.

Expect a rich kid poor kid story that is realistic.

The strongest part of Birds of Paradise is for sure the visual quality. Sadly, the story rides on every cliche regarding ballet I can think of (relationship drama, sex, drugs, total over the board resentment and competition, rich parents being emotional wrecks and evil entities, maestros with a notion to sadism, and I could go on and on). I just wondered the whole time when the girls (and boys) got time to do their study and training - remember, the setting is an elite dancer school. Also the questions between being an artist or following the rule of traditional classic dance is the wrong question - if I want to paint a piece in the style of Rembrandt I can't do action painting techniques - modern dance, classic dance, freestyle, whatever, it's up to you to chose the path you want to follow. I watched a few documentaries on the matter of elite ballet schools and groups and I did not get the impression that those dancers or teachers were maniacs, drug addicts and so on. Anyway, acting is good and the cinematography did hold my attention, was a real pleasure - last but not least, a better crafted and less stereotyped plot, and Birds of Paradise could have been a really good movie. Verdict: compared to Black Swan it is obvious that Birds of Paradise lacks of depth and originality story-wise. Exact rate: 5 + 1 bonus for the visuals only.

No pun intended - or maybe not the way you think. On the other hand, if you've read a few of my reviews, you may have already guessed that I sometimes mean multiple things with what I write. In this case, it is about the numbness ballet dancers go through (especially with their feet), but also the numbness some viewers may feel with movies about ballet.

We have seen a few of them - and this may not have too many new things that it can introduce. But the interplay between the two main characters, their relationship that is not entirely clear, but also the visual interpretation of certain things, does give it an edge.

Not the best movie ever, but a really nice effort and really well acted too. The story and the amount of passion thrown at us is really something in a good sense. Still you have to suspend your disbelief and fill in some gaps to be thoroughly entertained. Yes the movie does not give you all the answers - but you can deduct from some of the behavior what it tries to tell you.

Criticism and all that included of course. Passion and fanaticism go hand in hand sometimes! Not to mention expectations from the outside ... whatever is your driving motor ... and whatever is inside your head, for better or worse.

Competition brings out the best in some people... but it can destroy others.

'Black Cygnet'.

This is very well shot with good camera moves. The score and production design help the experience so much and are effective. The storytelling is nuanced. The direction was on point. I really enjoyed the way the information was delivered.

The tone was great. Sometimes I expected it to go some ways but it surprised me.

Sometimes the movie moved between genres which I thought made the storytelling better and helped the experience. The performances were great too.

The choreography was amazing. It was beautiful but it also was a big part of the storytelling and was meaningful and symbolic and poetic.

It does what it wanted to do in an effective way imo.

This is personal but the movie made me think about greatness in our society, and what it even means. Maybe there are more ways to interpret the word. I think with paying attention it is not hard to understand it during the first watch, but I also enjoyed the second watch a lot too.