Eldfågeln

The Swedish director Hasse Ekman made all kinds of films of very varying quality and contents, but this should be his oddest and most unusual, for there had hardly been any Swedish ballet film made before, while the quality here of the dancing is superb. There are two major ballets, one in the beginning and one providing the Finale, showing the "Firebird" ballet in intoxicating splendour with very impressing costumes and direction, giving undeniable associations to Powell and Pressburger in their Red Shoes. The lead here is the outstanding ballerina Ellen Rasch, who not only dances like an angel but acts well and is overwhelmingly beautiful as well. Naturally the world diva Tito Gobbi falls for her, while it is difficult to see whar she falls for in him, except for the voice, which delivers some fabulous arias. There is another ballerina as well, played by the actress Eva Henning, who is envious of Ellen Rasch and her art and acts accordingly with no good results for any of them. Nevertheless, the film is sensational for being what it is and coming from Sweden, no Ingmar Bergman here but rather the contrary, and a major treat for anyone who can enjoy classical ballet on film.

This movie focuses around the dancing talent of Swedish ballet dancer Ellen Rasch and the singing talent of Italian baryton Tito Gobbi, two of the greats in their respective fields at the time. The movie does have a plot, centering around the main character Linda (Rasch), and her passion for the art she is practising.

For any fan of ballet dancing, this must be a real treat. Even a less cultured individual such as myself found atleast the first ballet number in the movie to be highly enjoyable. The movie does run a bit long, however, clocking in at just under two hours. The dialogue does at times seem a bit forced, probably due to the fact that the entire dialogue is in English, spoken by (mainly) Swedish actors.

The movie has been digitally restaured by The Swedish Film Institute, which means you get to enjoy the movie in all its original, colorful glory. The colourwork seemed very tasteful, not falling for the temptation of exaggerating the saturation level for effect. However, the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired. Although not intolerable, with technology being what it is today, the quality is surprisingly low.

To sum things up, unless you detest watching movies from the 1950's, I can highly recommend seeing this movie if you enjoy the "fine arts".