burningviolin

I went to this movie because of the hype surrounding it, the very

positive reviews, the four stars, the Oscars. What might have

made a good theatre piece made a sham of a movie. What it

lacked was REAL choreography, and REAL dancers performing in

the key roles interpreted by Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta-Jones,

and Renee Zellweger. These stars no doubt gave their best, but

(and I don't blame them for trying!) they are not dancers! Musical

theatre is about great music and dance interpreted by

outstanding artists. Here we have celebrity stars stretching to

reach choreographic thresholds that have been lowered for them.

There are no thrills here, no beauty, no art. Any redeeming value in

this film springs from the performances by the honest dancers,

brilliantly captured by the way, in the first half hour of the movie in

the jailhouse seen featuring the rogue's gallery of murderesses.

Although it has been more than a decade since I saw Lady Jane, I remember that it moved me greatly. The ambiance and characters are fully developed. Helen Bonham Carter was quite young, perfect for the role, and turned out to be quite a revelation. I saw the film in Madrid. I'll never forget the sight of a middle aged Spaniard (male) in the audience weeping at the conclusion. (The Spanish nobility were the "bad guys" of this drama).

This film is based on the personal experiences of Armando Robles Godoy who, like the protagonist, abandoned big city life to "colonize" the Peruvian jungle in the 1960s. The director's brother, Mario Godoy, was the cinematographer. Julio Alemán, the Mexican actor who plays Godoy, won a prize for this role. It helps the viewer's understanding of this movie to know that it is based on an episode in the director's life. Surely it was cathartic for him to have told it. I hope it brought him closure to this deeply felt tragedy.