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downloads > Margot £6.99
synopsis
“A MASTERPIECE”
– The Independent MARGOT Tony Palmer’s film about Margot Fonteyn Margot Fonteyn was the greatest dancer England has ever produced. In her life she transcended the world of dance and became a tabloid darling second to none, a true celebrity. And when, already in her forties, Fonteyn teamed up with Rudolf Nureyev, their astonishing union created one of the most brilliant and magical partnerships in all of ballet history. Their artistic and sexual chemistry electrified all those who were lucky enough to watch them perform. But her remarkable talent and façade of fastidious primness masked a dark torrent within. Fonteyn’s life was the stuff of unimaginable fiction: taken as an underage mistress; married to a Panamanian Ambassador; involved in an attempted coup; the lover of innumerable, often homosexual, public figures; a cultural icon of the swinging sixties; betrayed by her husband’s family, and, above all, a dancer of extraordinary physical eloquence and purity – all culminating in this fragile beauty dying a penniless, lonely recluse. This gripping film uncovers a mountain of archive footage, including memorable performances with Nureyev, and meets with those who danced with her, knew her, and loved her. “A superlative film about a life that no one could invent…wonderful…priceless…masterful.” – The Times With Rudolf Nureyev Frederick Ashton Robert Helpmann Ninette de Valois Roland Petit Monica Mason Lynn Seymour Beryl Grey Ballets featured include: Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Marguerite and Armand, and The Nutcracker This is the story of how the most famous dancer that England has ever produced was deceived and betrayed by those closest to her; of how a little girl called Peggy Hookham, brought up in Shanghai, told her mother she would one day become the greatest dancer in the world; and of how, in spite of being almost unable to walk, she was still performing when she was 67. It is a story of courage and tenacity, of unbelievable devotion – to her art and to those whom she loved who, in the end, left her penniless, and alone, even to the extent that she was buried at first in a pauper’s grave. It is the stuff of fiction – except that it is true. Fonteyn remains, fourteen years after her death, the most famous ballerina of our time, spectacular in roles such as Giselle, Aurora in ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, Odette in ‘Swan Lake’. And when, already in her 40s, she teamed up with Nureyev, one of the most brilliant and magical partnerships in all of ballet history was born. The birth reached its climax 40 years ago with a production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan, with music by Prokofiev, and those who saw the performances will tell you that nothing like it had been seen before – or since. The artistic and sexual frenzy between Fonteyn and Nureyev electrified all those who were lucky enough to be present. Fortunately, there is film of those performances, as there is film of Fonteyn’s greatest roles. The archive, rarely seen, is a treasure house. But what of the woman? Born Margaret (Peggy) Hookham, in Reigate; her childhood in China; joined Sadler’s Wells Ballet in 1934 and became the under-age mistress of the then director, Constant Lambert, co-founder of what became The Royal Ballet; chose her stage name out of the telephone book; conquest of America in 1949; married to the Panamanian Ambassador and then involved in an attempted coup as a result of which her husband was paralysed and confined to a wheelchair; the lover of innumerable, often homosexual, public figures; a cultural icon of the Swinging Sixties; her retirement as a total recluse to a farm in Central America; her death, more-or-less penniless, from cancer in 1991; above all, a dancer of extraordinary physical eloquence and purity – ‘stainless’, is how one of her stage partners described her. It’s a bizarre story. And that’s only the beginning. Her mother, who was illegitimate, tried everything possible to abort the unborn child. Her lovers were sometimes violent and beat her up. She herself had at least two abortions and a miscarriage. She was voracious and pagan in all her appetites, including food. And yet her public image was utterly different, of ladylike fastidious primness – she always refused (for instance) to wear trousers in public. Until the end, she never believed she had any special talent – or so she told Ninette de Valois, the formidable ‘Madam’ of the Royal Ballet. At the end she was desperately lonely, clinging on to acquaintances in other circumstances not worthy of her attention. The last photographs of her are some of the most tragic portraits you are likely to see – of anyone, but especially of a fragile beauty that has no equal. There is a mountain of archive material, including the famous Nureyev/Fonteyn ‘Romeo and Juliet’, and enough people still alive who danced with her, knew her, loved her, and were her lovers. Without in any way diminishing her greatness, this film tries to understand the real woman, and the terrible sacrifices she made to achieve what she did – her ‘duty’, as she called it. Among those taking part are the Arias family, Phoebe (Fonteyn’s sister-in-law), Patsy Lady Jellicoe, who knew Fonteyn in Shanghai 80 years ago, Pamela May, who joined the old ‘Vic-Wells’ ballet the same month as Fonteyn in 1934, Monica Mason, Director of the Royal Ballet, Beryl Grey, Antoinette Sibley, Georgina Parkinson & Lynn Seymour, stars of The Royal Ballet, Anthony Dowell, David Wall, Donald MacLeary & Desmond Kelly, her former dancing partners, John Tooley, General Director of Covent Garden 1970-88, Roland Petit, her lover and choreo-grapher, Peter Wright, Director Laureate of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, Meredith Daneman & Keith Money, her biographers, Patricia Foy, the BBC producer of her famous television series ‘The Magic of Dance’, Clive Barnes the dance critic, Robert Gottlieb, the publisher of her autobiography, Joan Thring & Colette Clark, her longtime assistants, and Andrew Motion, the Poet Laureate, whose definitive biography of Constant Lambert sheds much light on one of Fonteyn’s first lovers – as well as previously unseen archival interviews with Rudolf Nureyev, Ninette de Valois (founder of The Royal Ballet), Robert Helpmann, her partner before World War II, Frederick Ashton, her greatest choreographer, and Fonteyn’s mother, known to everyone as ‘BQ’, The Black Queen. Among the ballets featured are: Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Marguerite and Armand, & The Nutcracker. Above all, this is a film about a beautiful woman who still, for most people, is ballet, with music (Prokofiev & Tchaikovsky) which for most people is music; a film about an immensely popular woman, but with a very dark story to tell. “A superlative film about a life that no one could invent…wonderful…priceless…masterful.” – The Times download information
Cast: Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, Frederick Ashton, Robert Helpmann, Ninette de Valois, Roland Petit, Monica Mason, Lynn Seymour, Beryl Grey Customer Reviewspeople who bought this product also bought...
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