MOVIE REVIEW: Ralph Fiennes directs nice portrayal of Rudolf Nureyev in "The White Crow'

The White Crow

(R)

Three out of four stars

At the peak of the Cold War in 1961, acclaimed ballet dancer, choreographer and future actor Rudolf Nureyev (Oleg Ivenko) defected from the Soviet Union to the West — causing a minor international scandal.

Had Nureyev done this in the U.S. it could have resulted in an actual “hot war.” But because it went down in France while under the “watchful eye” of his smothering handlers it was quickly downplayed. Neither the first nor the last Eastern Bloc native to defect, Nureyev arguably remains the highest profile artist to do so. And it’s the act that largely defined the remainder of his life.

Just the third directorial effort from actor Ralph Fiennes, “The White Crow” takes a big chance by presenting the story in the native tongues of all of its characters. That might hurt its chances at the box office, but it solidifies its artistic integrity. Another iffy, but ultimately rewarding, call is the choice of Fiennes and screenwriter David Hare deciding to limit the scope of the story to roughly the first half of Nureyev’s tumultuous but glorious and colorful life.

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Working from the biography “Rudolf Nureyev: The Life” by Julie Kavanagh, Hare and Fiennes — as he did with “The Reader” and “The Hours” — forego the idea of compressing an entire book and instead concentrates on meatier slabs of the source material. Anyone who has seen the movies Nureyev made in the ’70s and ’80s will agree this was far from his zenith of artistic expression. Nureyev could dance like nobody’s business, but his stab at playing lothario Rudolph Valentino in “Valentino” was a total train wreck. Also, without revealing spoilers, those already familiar with Nureyev’s often sad autumnal years don’t need a rehashing. Fiennes and Hare made the perfect call here regarding the brevity of the script.

Although not known by name, face or even profession by most people under the age of 50, Nureyev became something of an icon among the older LGBT community and their odd bedfellows — the conservative right who both today still view him as an anti-Communist poster boy and alternative lifestyle icon. Try finding anyone else alive or dead who can fit that double bill.

Fiennes’ final of three major hurdles came with the casting of the lead. Far too often in movie biographies, filmmakers will cast a “regular” actor to play an historical figure based solely on surface looks. This works well enough when no heavy lifting is involved like painting, singing or stealing second base. However, if it is portraying one of the most famous dancers in history, you don’t want to mess about. Fiennes picked acting rookie Ivenko, who is not only an incredibly talented professional dancer but could easily pass for Nureyev’s brother or son.

“The White Crow” isn’t the be-all-end-all Nureyev bio flick, but it wasn’t intended to be. The same can be said for the half-dozen or so subpar documentaries released since his death. In order to serve the man’s memory properly, there would need to be a 10-hour HBO mini-series — and that might not do the job.

Presented in Russian and infrequent French and English with English subtitles.

(Sony Classics)