How Pointe Shoes are Made

I decided to share another awesome Youtube video today! This is a special on television that shoes how pointe shoes are made!

No wonder shoes are so expensive!

Review-- Margot

Phew! Just in time! This review is of the movie, Margot. It is a made-for-television British movie and based off the real-life events of famous ballerina, Margot Fonteyn. This is definitely one of the lesser known movies featuring ballet, and I almost passed it up. So let's see how they did!

Story:

Story is about an older ballerina who is married to a revolutionary and Panamanian ambassador named Tito. Margot's marriage and career are strained as she struggles to balance each in her life. Meanwhile, a new Russian dancer named Rudi is sent to her apartment to stay. Problems with the Russian government make it is hard for the British company to get Russian dancers, so finding him means they have to make sure he has a place to stay. 

Since Margot is the prima ballerina and the Russian dancer is a favorite with the audience, they are quickly paired together for ballets. Margot starts to fall for him just a bit... but he seems to have as much interest in girls as guys. She isn't sure if she should let herself love him or not until after a single performance. During curtain calls, he turns to her and realizes that he is willing to start a more serious relationship with her.

Meanwhile, her husband sells her jewels without telling her to pay for guns for the revolution. He flirts with other women at a party and openly insults her and embarasses her in front of their guests; her marriage is now even more stressed. Her dominating mother tries to make decisions for her, and feeling trapped, she turns to her crush for comfort. He dumps his boyfriend, and Margot has an affair with him. Their love inspires their dancing, and the audience loves them more than ever.

But is this really what Margot wants? How should she balance her work (put under pressure by her failing body and aging) and her home life (strained by the revolution and infidelity)?

I'm a little lost on how to describe this movie without making it sound boring. Yes, the plot is slightly cliché. A woman falls for a younger man.... affairs.... we've heard it before. Yet I really enjoyed it. Her aging is lightly touched upon without having it slammed into our faces. Her feet becoming more and more damaged is shown but not spoken.

It's very nicely done, but the core elements might be a dead ringer for many other movies out there. Still, not bad at all. I really can't think of much else to comment on.

Characters:

The actress who played Margot did an excellent job. She conveyed sorrow convincingly, and danced the ballet portions nicely. Clever camera tricks were used for parts she couldn't perform, but the ones she did act in were really nice. I swear she even does a pirouette at one point. Not bad! I was most certainly impressed. I don't know who this actress is, but this movie reminds me that more people can act than just A-list actors and actresses.

I really wish that Rudi had a bit more background related to us. All we know is that 1) he's a good dancer, 2) he's Russian, and 3) he's bisexual. That's just not enough for me. I think he even dances his parts! And if he doesn't, then they did a wonderful job finding the perfect stunt double for him. Granted, he doesn't dance often, but when he does, it's not too shabby! I also really liked the actor who played his part. For all I know, he's really Russian.

I wish the mother character was drawn out a bit more. At the very end, Margot spits out all her grudges against her mother, but we really don't see much tension between them. Sometimes they disagree, but Margot always politely sweeps the mother's comments aside. This idea of an overbearing mother is really interesting, but it doesn't really look into it as much as I would like. 


The man who played Tito played a good guy-you-like-to-hate (no picture of him because I forgot). His blatant lack of respect for his wife is just infuriating. Granted, Margot also cheated at one point, so who am I to pass judgment? Still, a really nice job from all the actors and actresses in this movie. They all did phenomenally.

Sets/Costumes:

I LOVE the sets and costumes! Everything had to be in this time period, so everything had to be just right. I loved the ballet studio, stage, and costumes. They were all absolutely wonderful. The sets took time to fill in the extra details like tutus hanging up on hangers and the rosin for dance shoes.

Music:

The movie used mostly music from famous ballets. These mostly being Tchaikovsky's. Not much to say since they are classical pieces, after all.

Camera:

The camera was really great. They got some really nice shots in, like the ballet studio picture above, that really gave you a sense of space and dynamics. Other times, there were awkward zooms. Though, to be honest, they actually may have been done on purpose. These awkward zooms were during interviews, which may have been the effect they wanted for this type of setting.

The character is about to go on stage. The camera cleverly edits out the actress for her body double as she passes past the curtains and makes her entrance.

Also, the editing inbetween body doubles is BRILLIANT. I love it! My most favorite and ingenious example is near the very beginning during Swan Lake. The actress prepares to go on. She passes by the side curtain and the body double takes her place as the camera pans over with the character onto the stage. The seamless edit makes it a really nice transition, and I appreciated the thought that went into it.

Ballet Presence:

The actress and her body double did a great job dancing, but even the actress had to learn how to move for the ballet portions. She even learned to spot and can do a single pirouette. I'll be shocked if someone told me she learned this much for the role because I was really impressed with how well she did for what she was given. By making the actress at least appear to dance in one shot, it gave us the illusion she really could dance. Clever editing doesn't always pull through with deceiving the audience. At least, not this audience.

 I did like how the ballet bits they performed matched up with what stage their relationship was at. Like Giselle picking the petals off the flower was matched with Margot and Rudi first dancing together, and also Odile/Odette being two sides of the same coin when Margot is leading a sort of "double life." Though there were times this didn't work so well, it was nicely done overall.

The dancers were mostly shot from behind so you couldn't see the stunt doubles. When there was a move that the actors could perform, that's when they shot from the front. Though this got old after awhile, it was still nice to see them perform. They performed quite a few pieces from ballets. There was Swan Lake, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, La Bayadere, and at least two others that I can't remember the names of right off the top of my head.

The man who played Rudi, I think, danced part of La Bayadere. I really liked him, too. I thought they both did wonderful jobs.

Overall Enjoyment:

For a made for television movie, this is GREAT. It's well shot, it's a period piece to boot, and they were really clever about hiding their smaller budget. They blackened the theatre and shot the dancers from behind mostly to hide the lack of extras. Very clever, if you ask me. Still, I wish they shot the dancers from the front more often, though it's quite understandable.

The actress playing Margot was fantastic, and so were all the other players. This is definitely what I consider a hidden gem. Maybe it's not for you, but for a ballet movie, I found it pretty amazing.

Review-- Ballet Shoes

Alright! Finally, I manage to get my act together to complete this movie review for.... Ballet Shoes! Now, this took especially long since I found out there are a couple versions of this. Not only is this a book, but there are also two film adaptations for it. One is recent (one of the stars being Emma Watson) and the other looks like it's from the 70s. I was only planning on reviewing and taking caps from the one starring Emma, but I figured it would be fun to compare the two films side by side.

Since I haven't read the book, I decided to nix looking at how well each film captured the essence of the book. Both of these movies are quite similar, even the fact that they were both made for television makes them alike. So let's begin! Which one will I like more? We'll see!

Basic Premise:
Three orphaned girls named Pauline, Petrova, and Posy are taken in by an old paleontologist. The paleontologist departs, leaving their guardian, Sylvia, in charge. In order to pay rent on their house, they take in several boarders. One of these boarders is a dancer, who recommends Sylvia to enter the girls into a dance academy. While Pauline enjoys the academy since she wants to be an actress and Posy likes it since she wants to be a dancer, Petrova is miserable since she wants to fly planes. Unfortunately, taking in boarders is not enough to pay the rent, and their caretaker, the paleontologist, has been missing for quite some time now. The girls struggle to make ends meet, taking on acting jobs to help Sylvia keep the house.

Story:

 

Each movie did a nice job with the pacing and making us understand the different characters and their unique talents. It's a little hard to say much about the story, considering that I've never read the book it's based on, but for the most part, it's a cute story for little girls to watch. They do a nice job with morals by teaching things such as "don't turn into a bossy prima donna" and then the more serious "perfection isn't possible" and "if you enjoy something, it's always worth fighting for it." 

My major gripe with this movie is: "Why is this called 'Ballet Shoes'?" The title makes it sound like this is a ballet movie, but it's more about the girls' acting than dancing. Sure, they are in a dance academy, but Petrova and Pauline make money by taking parts; Posy is rarely there. There's also this big lead-in with Posy being abandoned with only a pair of ballet shoes. You would think she is the main character, but if anyone is the main character, it's Pauline. Pauline gets several big breaks while Posy doesn't get hers until the very end. It's bizarre and possibly would make more sense if I read the book.

Main Characters:

Okay, let's not beat around the bush, the new version has much better acting. Not only that, but Posy is a pretty good dancer. And if that's not her dancing, then by god they have found one heck of a great body double. Emma Watson is a much better actress for Pauline. Her recitation of Puck is better than the girl from the 70s version. Also, her crying is much more believable, not laughable. I know they are only children, but acting like you're sick doesn't equal sniffing in between every line. More the fault of the director than the girls in the 70s version.

Also with the 70s version, Pauline seemed to have more ballet experience than Posy. Not that Posy did a bad job, but the character is supposed to be showing signs up excellence and, well, born with ballet shoes in her mouth. 

Now I pretty much hate all the girls. Wow, that's mean of me, but each one grates on my nerves in their own super special way. This is why I don't have children yet, peeps, because I just can't handle these girls' selfish, bratty behavior. Sometimes, they are downright cruel, especially to their rival named Winifred. Poor girl, you end up rooting for her instead.

Supporting Characters:
 There's a pretty large supporting cast for this movie. All play a specific part in helping the girls achieve their dreams. I'll try and tackle some of the most important ones.

Sylvia Brown-- She is the girls' guardian. In the 70s version, she is portrayed as a nervous woman, constantly explaining herself and doubting her actions. In the newer version, she is portrayed as a more stressed out woman. Both are fine, but the nervous portrayal got annoying after awhile, though I do suppose that may be how they wanted the character portrayed.

Madame-- She is the Russian teacher of the ballet school and in charge. She plays a much bigger part in the 70s version, but in that one, the acting seems a bit over the top. In the newer version, she reminds me a lot of some family friends I have from Eastern Europe, so I felt the newer portrayal was much better. Sadly, she doesn't nearly get the amount of screen time that the earlier one gets. Still, I enjoy both characters.

Winifred-- Winifred, their rival. Poor, poor Winifred. In the 70s version, she has parents out of work and gets her role sabotaged by Pauline who lies about the location of the audition. In the later version, she is the best in the company but can't get a part because of her "below average" looks, she is bossed around by Pauline when she becomes Pauline's understudy, she just gets the short end of the stick. I guess you're supposed to think she had it coming, but I really don't see it at all. All I see is a poor girl with lots of talent who just doesn't quite make it. The girl in the newer version does a phenomenal job. I was very impressed, but the girl from the 70s version... not so much. I'll need a more convincing cry than what she did.

The Boarders-- These people help the girls study in some way. The professors (or professor, in the 70s version), the garage owner, and the dance teacher all help the girls in some way. I liked all of them, to be honest. I loved them all because they were very kind, all of them. Acting was very good from all of them, especially the later version. I loved the later version because their characters were much more fleshed out and were given back stories.

Sets/Costumes:

Since these were made for television, I was not expecting much, especially since this story takes place in the 30s, but they both did a pretty decent job. The 70s version looks a tad dated, and I swear they aren't wearing bras at points, but both versions got the hairstyles right. The newer version even goes a step beyond, doing research to find how girls got the wave in their hair. The 70s version seems to have a simpler, studio set, where the newer one goes on location.

Music:

 Both films utilized ballet music as part of their score. It was a nice little touch. However, the 70s version did a bit more than a touch. In fact, I would describe the music as a little kid who keeps poking you in the side over, and over, and over, and over. This movie wouldn't stop spamming Tchaikovsky's "Panorama" from the ballet, Sleeping Beauty. I'm not kidding when I say this; it had to have played over eight times.

Ballet Presence:

Ballet is definitely present in both versions. I do think that the 70s version balanced the acting with the dancing better than the newer version, but there was still a disbalance in both where acting seemed to get the uppercut.

Go ahead and click on these pictures for a larger shot. I tried to get a shot of every major scene involving ballet. I had a hard time telling if the girls in the 70s version were en pointe at times. Sometimes, it looked like they were faking it, and other times they would definitely be en pointe. In fact, I would go as far as to say that Posy probably shouldn't have been en pointe at all. She didn't look steady.

However, in the 70s version, all of the girls were seen in the dance studio. In the modern version, it was only Posy who received formal dance lessons.
 

 Overall Enjoyment:

 

Both of these films were very good, but I have to say I like the modern version better. The sets are better, the costumes are better,the acting is better, the ballet is better (though less). I just enjoyed it more, and since the story is almost identical, may as well go for the one that developed the characters more and did an overall better job.