La mort du cygne

a delicate film starring the massive paris opera and its populace with a screen full of ballerinas, pathos and slavenska. i learned about as much about the paris ballet as i did from tavernier's "tout près des étoiles" (2001), but loved it even more.

an archival print from warner bros. showed at the san francisco international film festival in 2000, so there's a subtitled print out there. find it. show it.

"La Mort du Cygne" is the source novel for THE UNFINISHED DANCE, as well perhaps for other films with the title BALLERINA. I found this version more analytical and less sentimental than THE UNFINISHED DANCE. It has plenty of impact and certainly gives one a good look at the resources of the Opera de Paris. The later version does elicit more sympathy for the afflicted ballerina, and of course it has Margaret O'Brien, Karin Booth, and Cyd Charisse, three very charismatic ladies whom it is impossible not to love. Turner Classic Movies featured LA MORT DU CYGNE under the title BALLERINA back in October of 1996. Alas, they don't seem to have reprised it since, but keep an eye open. They may yet, and it is definitely worth a watch. My only cavil is that the camera work is mediocre.

It's extraordinary such an obscure French movie can already have two reviews .

Jean -Benoit Levy is completely forgotten in his native France ,even his masterpiece "La Maternelle" which is ,like "La Mort Du Cygne" ,a collaboration with Marie Epstein who should be credited for the screenplay AND the directing.

"La Mort Du Cygne" is finally a cruel story,and the ending may seem immoral,considering "Le Petit Rat" (pupil of the opera ballet)Rose Souris (=mouse!)has broken a ballerina's career (for a dancer ,it is some kind of death).And the girl is a teenager ,no longer a little child .After her crime (she intentionally caused an accident on stage),her idol tells her that dance is not everything ; she is actually looking for love .

There are many ballets ,including a very beautiful one by the Petits Rats .

It is a subject which is very rare in the FRench cinema ;in the sixties,actress Odette Joyeux would make a nice miniseries called "L'Age Heureux" featuring pupils of the Opera De Paris ballet class.

Here's a completely and utterly forgotten gem, evidenced by the fact that it has 52 votes on IMDb and took me 2 years to track down. This is what people should mean when they claim something is underrated or overlooked. TCM apparently showed it for the first time in 15 years last year, and I missed it, which made me upset. Ultimately, however, I enjoyed the search, and didn't end up watching it until I'd already owned it for a month or two, and I'd have it no other way. I enjoy watching movies when I have a sudden burning desire to watch a specific film, not jut an "Okay, time to watch a movie now."

There are exterior shots reminiscent of Jean Vigo's À Propos de Nice at the beginning of the film-the close-ups of the statues, and interior shots reminiscent of the silent Phantom of the Opera (1925) (one of my favorite movies)-the close-ups of the creepy props backstage, as well as the overhead shots of the rats underneath the stage. It would be unsurprising if the scene with the dancer overlaid with a nature shot was an influence on Maya Deren, particularly A Study in Choreography for Camera.

The movie's themes deal with the fact that children don't understand adults, and neither in general do adults understand children, despite having been a child. Karine, played by Mia Slavenska, whose unfortunate case of chronic bitch face doesn't inhibit her acting, surprisingly acts like an adult in the well-written screenplay, despite the horror she has inflicted upon her. Not everyone does act like an adult in real life, but this seems to be grossly over represented in films, so here is a breath of fresh air, and with reasoning behind it. Ballet provides a strict discipline for becoming graceful, which overflows into interpersonal relations. Children will continue to do evil things they don't understand the full consequences of, but they can be made to understand and become a better adult with proper treatment. Put your kid in ballet.