Review of "Nureyev: A Portrait"

This is a far better documentary than "Fonteyn and Nureyev". The dance excerpts better showcase Nureyev's exceptional artistry and the movie also includes an interview with the dancer where he reflects on his career and shows great thoughtfulness. We get a good sense of how difficult Nureyev's life was before he was admitted to the dance school in Leningrad and of course the way he tells some stories of his own life, such as his interactions with Balanchine, are spellbinding. The movie doesn't hint at Nureyev's troubles with drugs that "Fonteyn and Nureyev" mentions once but frankly I didn't feel it was a big loss, although I would have loved to know more about his inner demons. The part about his return to the Kirov decades after his defection was very moving. Contrary to "Ballerina", "Prima Ballerina" and "Fonteyn and Nureyev", this is a documentary about a dancer where you get some sense of who the dancer was, behind the dancing. And his dancing was out-of-this-world. A must-buy if you like dance.