DIRECTORS’ STATEMENT
His life story reads like a sprawling epic novel. And that was both a great opportunity and a daunting challenge for us as filmmakers. In a sense Nureyev has turned into a hybrid between a feature documentary and a movie. From the start, we wanted the film to be a theatrical experience – not simply to show his life story, but also to remind those old enough to have lived through his prime, of his genius. And introduce him to a new audience.
Dance, unlike most other art forms, is ephemeral. We can hear why Elvis, Sinatra or the Beatles had the impact they did. Dance is different. There is no moving film of the other great male dancer of the 20th century, Nijinsky. So he has become little more than a name. Our responsibility was to save Rudolf Nureyev for future generations, by tracking down the best of his work that survives on film, and then present it, and him, in the context of his time.
One cannot begin to understand Nureyev without an examination of how his life was inextricably intertwined with the politics of the Cold War. He was used as a tool of propaganda by the regime. In 1961, along with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, were lorded as examples of how the Soviet state could lift people from their humble backgrounds and turn them world icons. It was assumed that they would also be loyal to the regime. Gagarin’s loyalty was never in doubt, but the authorities knew that Nureyev was a free spirit who had the potential to be dangerous. The trouble was that he was indispensable to them. If they wanted to project Soviet superiority to the rest of the world, they had to have something spectacular show on the Kirov’s tour of Paris and London. And Nureyev fitted the bill. The trouble was that he was unpredictable. But the temptation was too great – and they paid the price. His defection was a disaster. But Nureyev also paid a heavy price. He was cut off from his homeland, and from his family. And this was the great tragedy of his life.
For those who didn’t live through the time, it’s difficult to envisage how big a star Nureyev was and how he and Margot Fonteyn’s partnership caught the public’s imagination. Their high-profile kindled an interest in ballet as an art form that had not been known before that time, and hasn’t been seen since.
We also wanted to show the impact AIDS had on dance.
Dance was uniquely vulnerable to the disease. Singers, musicians, painters, actors etc have to learn their trade, but dance companies pass on their acquired knowledge from generation to generation. It is like a living thing. In the film we talk to members of the Martha Graham Company, who explain how nearly a whole generation of dancers was wiped out by AIDS – and how that meant that the link was nearly broken. It is only now, all these years since the height of the plague that some companies feel they have recovered.
Teaser trailer campaigned devised by Trevor Beattie
The marketing of the film was a challenge. For example, it was it was incredibly difficult to produce a trailer that would encapsulated his whole life, as there are so many strands to it. This was a process that took many drafts. But we did have one advantage in the sphere of advertising – Trevor Beattie. Trevor is not only a fantastic producer, but a great AD man, who skilfully devised a brilliant viral teaser campaign.
From its inception, to completion, Nureyev took three years to make. And in that time we managed to track down a considerable amount of never seen before footage. The Rudolf Nureyev foundation, and many of his friends who are still alive in Russian, have said it is the most truthful film of him, and that has made it worthwhile!
Jacqui Morris and David Morris 2018
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CNN Interview
