Ken Russell has always been a director that took his films into excesses with both style and subject matter but I found this so-called biography lacking any real substance. The story is of course about the rise and death of Rudolph Valentino (Rudolf Nureyev) and after his sudden and tragic death we see the woman in his life reflect in flashbacks about his life. Valentino was a tango dancer and a gigolo but he still had dreams of buying his own orange grove in California. A casting director spots him in a dance hall and convinces him to come for a screen test which he agrees to. He starts working in small roles until he catches the eye of famed actress Alla Nazimova (Leslie Caron) and her companion Natasha Rambova (Michelle Phillips). Soon Valentino becomes a screen sensation and he becomes involved romantically with Rambova but technically he is still married to his first wife. The two of them become a team and they want artistic control over his parts which is to the chagrin of the studio head Jesse Lasky (Huntz Hall).
Russell's films are always visually interesting and this effort is no different. There are many scenes that have brown and gray tones but suddenly a bright shade will be entered into the shot. Also, this film is suppose to be in the United States but is actually shot in England. Russell did a pretty good job recreating the look of 1920's America with his sets that were built specifically for this film. But let's face it, this is a very clumsy attempt at retelling the life of Valentino and while Nureyev was excellent showing us the tango, he looked like a fish out of water when it came to dialogue. One of the more irritating things about this film was that Russell told this story like it was a silent movie. The scenes and dialogue are overly dramatic and Nureyev uses lots of body movement to show what he is feeling. This also wouldn't be a Russell film without the gratuitous nudity and they're are a couple of lulu's here. Nureyev himself has one or two full frontal shots. I didn't complain too much about the historical inaccuracies but with the uninspired casting (Huntz Hall?) and the annoying style of this film with Nureyev's awkward performance its clearly an effort that goes nowhere.
Russell's films are always visually interesting and this effort is no different. There are many scenes that have brown and gray tones but suddenly a bright shade will be entered into the shot. Also, this film is suppose to be in the United States but is actually shot in England. Russell did a pretty good job recreating the look of 1920's America with his sets that were built specifically for this film. But let's face it, this is a very clumsy attempt at retelling the life of Valentino and while Nureyev was excellent showing us the tango, he looked like a fish out of water when it came to dialogue. One of the more irritating things about this film was that Russell told this story like it was a silent movie. The scenes and dialogue are overly dramatic and Nureyev uses lots of body movement to show what he is feeling. This also wouldn't be a Russell film without the gratuitous nudity and they're are a couple of lulu's here. Nureyev himself has one or two full frontal shots. I didn't complain too much about the historical inaccuracies but with the uninspired casting (Huntz Hall?) and the annoying style of this film with Nureyev's awkward performance its clearly an effort that goes nowhere.