"Balanchine the Movie"-- what do you think? Options

[pmeja]

with all due respect the first person that comes to mind as lincoln kirstein (again laying aside the question of whether the actor is even with us) is ted cassidy, who played lurch on the addams family.

[bart]

John Lithgow has some of the physical attributes of Kirstein. And he can do intensity, intelligence and oddness, all quitessential Kirstein qualities.

Helene, I tend to think of Moorehead as having ominous undertones (Citizen Kane's mother, etc.) Judy Davis, on the other hand, suggested by Ray, might really be able to get her teeeth into the grittiness and combativeness that Hayden's story suggests. Somehow I think that Hayden was basically good humored, underneath it all. Moorehead, even in comedy, suggests deep (however subtle) layers of malice and unforgivingness. To me at least.

RE: Farrell. Do you really need an actress? There's so much passivity in her relationship to Balanchine. Even when she rebelled (by marrying and then by embracing an entirely different kind of rep with Bejart, the anti-Balanchine) I don't see her as looking or acting particularly rebellious. Of all the Balanchine women, Farrell is to me the least interesting as a woman and the most interesting as a dancer. (I admit that her career after retirement has shown strength, imagination and gumption.)

Who could DANCE Farrell plausibly? The person chosen can always get an acting coach to help her with the lines.

Farrell Fan, where are you? We need your imput on this.

[pmeja]

John Lithgow has some of the physical attributes of Kirstein. And he can do intensity and oddness, both quitessential Kirstein qualities.

Yes!

[Ray]

Inspiration: Martha Plimpton as Heather Watts!

Yes!!!! Perfect for Mortensen as Martins.

Wow, a veritable Sid and Nancy of high modernist ballet!

[dirac]

I've been trying to imagine Welles (even if he were alive) as Lincoln Kirstein. I saw, as a number of us on Ballet Talk saw, Kirstein occasionally and know what he sounded like and how he moved. I've also seen most of Welles's movies, including all the biggies. Somehow, I'm not making the connection. (IMG:http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/style_emoticons/default/helpsmilie.gif)

I don't know many of the actors who've been named, but I have seen a bit of Juliette Binoche's film work. I'm having trouble imagining her as Suzanne Farrell. Not that she couldn't act the part, but in the areas of appearance, quality of movement, and that strange, serene blankness that could take over Farrell's face while performing. I'd think that an American actress would be required to portray the very young Farrell's appearance of midwestern normality in daily life. Was Binoche ever so innocent and unformed?

A question: assuming she's included in the film, is there any contemporary actress who could do the Melissa Hayden-as-acerbic commentator role suggested by dirac? I think we need grittier than Eve Arden. Who'se available today who could portray Hayden in her dancing years and, if required by the screenplay, as in retirement, looking back.

Young Pacino as young Villella is great. They not only are similar physical types, they're both capable of playing very smart characters.

Binoche is too short for Farrell.

Pacino is right for Villella in many ways, but he could never play a dancer - his torso is disproportionately long and he's really quite short in the leg. Not that noticeable if he's photographed carefully, but there's no hiding in tights.

(If there ever was a movie, it would be best to go with real dancers and not actors, in any case, IMO. But we're just having fun here.)

Welles didn't resemble Kirstein, but he had the physical and vocal presence to convey a theatrical sense of Kirstein, if you will. Lithgow's too mild.

[Hans]

I'm not sure anyone currently performing could dance the way Farrell did, but if one had to choose, it would have to be someone trained at SAB. There's just no other school that could get the style right.

[dirac]

with all due respect the first person that comes to mind as lincoln kirstein (again laying aside the question of whether the actor is even with us) is ted cassidy, who played lurch on the addams family.

(IMG:http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[papeetepatrick]

The interesting thing about most of the comments is that they seem to indicate that no movie could now be made, since dead or way-too-old actors and directors are being cast more often than living. The directors who could do different kinds of films about NYCB and Balanchine are Altman and Welles ( Welles as director IMO, although he's one of my favourite actors). That French director, Leos Carax, who did Pola X might know how to do it, or Techine might be able to do an intimate story about a couple of the characters only, but I don't know. I also like the idea of Ken Russell doing something with it--it needs to be a movie if it were really done, not just another docufiction--and Russell's irreverence might be just right.

Use old footage of the actual old dancers dancing, let actors do the rest of the characters--the magic would be lost if even fine new dancers danced the old roles. Altman could have done one of his big, sprawling things and included Gelsey's episode in it with Peter Martins and Baryshnikov too, but Welles would have figured out something nobody else could have if he'd thought it interesting as cinema, because he had such a huge talent--he even makes Loretta Young effective in 'The Stranger' just because of his magnetic and powerful force.

I can see that a real movie could be made, though. It will probably be by a director who loves the ballets and decides to do something. Probably only real story in it would based on the Farrell affair, so the late 60s, early 70s with all those dancers in clips of their own dancing, even if it needs to be blurred or filtered or something, but good casting for the acting with young actors. Possibly the gorgeous statuesque Carole Bouquet as an older Farrell, doing the requisite reminiscing scenes tinged with melancholy. But Michelle Pfeiffer might be exactly right for that too, being all-American in that special glamorous way. Nicole Kidman as Farrell--NOT! I like Pacino for Balanchine more than Villella.

[carbro]

A question: assuming she's included in the film, is there any contemporary actress who could do the Melissa Hayden-as-acerbic commentator role suggested by dirac? I think we need grittier than Eve Arden. Who'se available today who could portray Hayden in her dancing years and, if required by the screenplay, as in retirement, looking back.

Julia Roberts? She looks not at all like Hayden (or anyone else), but she showed a tough, wisecracking, earthy bundle of determination as Erin Brockovitch.

Welles didn't resemble Kirstein, but he had the physical and vocal presence to convey a theatrical sense of Kirstein, if you will. Lithgow's too mild.

I agree. Welles could embody Kirstein's air of brooding detachment. Not only is Lithgow to "light," I simply find him very annoying.

[papeetepatrick]

Catherine Deneuve exactly as she is now for Mrs. Ficker (unless she changed her name to Farrell). She's proved she can do this kind of thing in 'Dancer in the Dark'. Good scenes with her and Judi Dench as Romana Kryzanowska-Mejia as they struggle toward their own respective goals for Miss Farrell.

[Sacto1654]

Getting really back on topic, (IMG:http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I think given how amazingly complex the life of Balanchine was, his story has to be done as an HBO miniseries.

We'll definitely need to film the miniseries extensively in Saint Petersburg, Paris, and New York City, with a lot of additional soundstage and digital post production work (we are very fortunate that most of buildings around the Mariinsky Theatre have survived or rebuilt to original specs, so that lends much authenticity to Balanchine's days at the Imperial Ballet Academy).

Casting, however, will be a big problem. Just the role of Balanchine himself will require an actor with good dancing skills and good acting skills, since he was well-known as a good dancer besides being a great choreographer. Just all the roles of the various people in this project would require one of the most extensive casting calls around. Also, remember the project will likely require the approval and assistance of the George Balanchine Foundation, too.

Be ready to spend as much money as spent on Band of Brothers or From the Earth to the Moon--not an easy sell in today's economy. (IMG:http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[Ray]

Catherine Deneuve exactly as she is now for Mrs. Ficker (unless she changed her name to Farrell). She's proved she can do this kind of thing in 'Dancer in the Dark'. Good scenes with her and Judi Dench as Romana Kryzanowska-Mejia as they struggle toward their own respective goals for Miss Farrell.

Veering back to the Ficker conundrum...

Sorry, but I think Deneuve is just too glamorous for Mrs. Ficker. More accurate would be Estelle Harris, the actresses who played George's mother in Seinfeld ,or Doris Roberts, the mother in Everybody Loves Raymond. OR a more high-powered possibility is Brenda Blethyn.

[carbro]

Or another Estelle -- Parsons.

[bart]

Getting really back on topic, (IMG:http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I think given how amazingly complex the life of Balanchine was, his story has to be done as an HBO miniseries.

I'm with Sacto1654.

I can't think of a reason to reduce Balanchine to the Farrell plotline. Wouldn't that become, in essence, a Farrell biopic? Or, worse, a reworking of the story of Svengali and Trilby? Better not to do it at all.

[richard53dog]

Getting really back on topic, (IMG:http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I think given how amazingly complex the life of Balanchine was, his story has to be done as an HBO miniseries.

I'm with Sacto1654.

I can't think of a reason to reduce Balanchine to the Farrell plotline. Wouldn't that become, in essence, a Farrell biopic? Or, worse, a reworking of the story of Svengali and Trilby? Better not to do it at all.

Good point. Best to cover many earlier periods in Balanchine's life too. For another very "romantic" chapter, how about his pursuit of Vera Zorina? I remember
reading stories, perhaps not truly factual, of Balanchine out in the rain outside Zorina's NYC apartment. What actresses could play the very glamorous trio
of Geva, Danilova, and Zorina?

Also his departure from Russia is also another very complex story with one of the troup coming to a bad end.