Tanečnice
Directed by:
Stéphanie Di GiustoCinematography:
Benoît DebieComposer:
Laura ObiolsCast:
Soko, Gaspard Ulliel, Mélanie Thierry, Lily-Rose Depp, François Damiens, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Amanda Plummer, Denis Ménochet, Charlie Morgan (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Stéphanie Di Giusto’s spectacularly mounted screen biography, inspired by the true story of two rival pioneers of modern dance and theatrical performance in late 19th-century Paris. Nothing in her background destined Loïe Fuller (Soko), born in the American Midwest, to become the toast of the Belle Epoque cabarets - or to perform at the Paris Opera. Hidden behind metres of silk, her arms extended by long wooden rods, the athletic Fuller was able to reinvent her body on stage, enthralling her audiences a little more every night with her revolutionary “Serpentine” dance. Dazzling the capital, she became an icon, the blazing symbol of a generation. Eminent admirers fell to her feet: Toulouse-Lautrec, the Lumière Brothers, Rodin. Even if the physical effort risked destroying her back, even if the glare of the stage lights seared her eyes, she never faltered in the quest to perfect her art. But it was Loïe’s meeting with Isadora Duncan (Lily-Rose Depp) - a beautiful young prodigy hungry for glory - that threatened everything: her stature, her confidence and her sanity. With excellent support from Gaspard Ulliel, Mélanie Thierry, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing and François Damiens, this gorgeously realised debut charts the remarkable destiny of a woman ahead of her time, one who revolutionised her art to a degree that still astounds over a century later. (Palace Films)
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Reviews (2)
It is the story of a dancer whose at the time innovative performance hid hours of hard work, blood, sweat and tears. Unlike her frenemy, she was neither beautiful nor graceful, but there were queues for her performances in France. The story itself is nothing extraordinary, but it deserves an extra star thanks to the beautiful cinematography and the dance scenes, which give me goosebumps all over again when I think of them. I haven’t seen something so beautiful on the screen for a long time. The moment she first started dancing I didn't even breathe and wished she would dance for the rest of the film. My only complain about the dance scenes is that they were too short. As the first feature film by director Stéphanie Di Giusto, very nice work (especially visually).
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It reminded me a bit of Egon Schiele, which I saw recently. It's biographical, and it's good, but it feels more like a classic biographical drama that lacks something extra to really elevate it. Sure, you learn about the life of a person you probably don't even know, and yes, they had an interesting and dramatic fate, but that's just what you'd expect.
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