Giselle

My review was written in April 1991 after a screening at Nordic Film Festival in Midtown Manhattan.

This educational documentary presents the rehearsals and performance of Adolphe Adam's ballet "Giselle" from the point-of-view of talented ballet master Henning Kronstam. Anne Wivel's film is so single-minded in focus that it is of limited interest, however.

In zeroing in on Kronstam, Wivel chooses to ignore the rest of his collaborators. Gaunt ballerina Heidi Ryom and her costars strain to fulfill the directions of taskmaster Kronstam, but the performer never make a suggestion or seem to have any input into their roles.

With Kronstam dancing, miming and acting out every little gesture and move, as well as describing in Danish or English exactly what each character is thinking, the film presents ballet as the closest lively art to puppetry. Ballet students will learn a lot about how this particular piece works, as well as being impressed with Kronstam's understanding of same, but that's about it.

Other than footage of a class of youngsters preparing for a life of dance and moodily lit shots of Kronstam in pensive mode, the film is fairly straightforward documentation of the maestro's creative process. Not enough footage of the final performance is included to be satisfying to "Giselle" fans, since Wivel's interest is in the preparation. A 1978 film release starring Carla Fracci as "Giselle" exists to satisfy the die-hards.

Wivel's decision to shoot in black & white has its pluses in dramatic moments, but would have benefited from a reel or two bursting into color when the full-dress ballet is performed. Besides Julien Thurber's piano accompaniment, there is disconcerting use of background music from diverse sources including Mozart's "The Magic Flute".