The Tales of Hoffman at the BFI London

[John Mallinson]

This Powell and Pressburger film of Offenbach's opera is showing at the BFI from Feb 28 to March 16 in a newly restored version. There is choreography by Ashton and the dancers include Shearer, Tchérina, Helpmann, Massine and Ashton himself.

 

Sounds like a must-see.

 

[billboyd]

Maybe, it will be released on DVD.

[Beryl H]

Amazon have it due for release on DVD and Blu-Ray soon, I would be grateful if anyone does see it at the cinema for any thoughts, don't think I have ever seen it.

[FLOSS]

All I know about it is that I read somewhere that Shearer said that she hated the idea that people would assume that the dance sections in The Red Shoes were representative of her as a dancer as they were shot in such short sequences that they gave no idea of the flow of movement.She was far happier with The Tales of Hoffman because the dance sections were filmed in much longer sections and as a result provided a better record of her as a dancer.

[alison]

That's interesting, Floss.

 

All I can say is that the Evening Standard gave it 4 stars, and I think said something to the effect that if the failings which it mentioned had been addressed this might have been one of the top 10 films of all time.

[Irmgard]

I have seen this film several times in the past and I would thoroughly recommend a visit to the South Bank, especially as this a restored version.  From my memories of previous viewings, we get almost the entire opera, pre-recorded so that most of the roles are taken by actors and dancers.  Shearer and Tcherina are luminous and Helpmann has a whale of a time as the four 'baddies'.  The film has a surreal quality to it and, of course, the colours are vivid - especially Shearer's glorious red hair!  Add to that the 'soundtrack' of top UK opera singers at the time and Ashton's beautiful choreography and you have a rare treat.

[FLOSS]

Fascinating to see Shearer dance in a film which I understand she thought did her justice as a dancer. I think that it helps explain why Balanchine is said to have preferred her as a dancer to Fonteyn.Having seen this film and some of the early Balanchine television films recorded in Montreal it seems to me that his preference was for dancers whose technique could be displayed in dance rather than for dancers whose technique was so understated that it often seems to be a state of being rather than something requiring muscular effort. Perhaps I should make it clear that I am not denying that Fonteyn had technique.

 

I wonder if Massine presented something of a problem to the film makers? He provided name recognition in a way that no one except Thomas Beecham could but his choreography does little for the film. I imagine that it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to insist that Massine should have performed someone else's choreography and Ashton might have felt uncomfortable about choreographing for him but the choreography that Massine set for himself seems to be little more than a recycling of bits of his old roles. While it was impressive to see what he was physically capable of dancing in his early fifties his choreography seemed to consist of snippets from earlier ballets. It is impossible to know whether his choreography took that form because he really had run out of ideas, which is a distinct possibility, or whether it did so because he thought that was what the audience expected of him.