Customer Reviews

La Fille Mal Gardee [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When was the last time you saw a ballet at the end of which you had that warm fuzzy feeling of being utterly entertained and happy ( like the first time you saw the Wizard of Oz?). If they gave out Oscars for the most enjoyable ballet production of this decade this La Fille Mal Gardee should win hands down.
This has to be Ashton at his most whimsical and artistic best, a brilliant and idiomatic piece of choreography of a simple village love affair set in the perpetual sunshine of his beloved Suffolk countryside. Herold's music is unpretentious but melodic and memorable, the costumes colourful and strongly evocative of the rustic setting and the dancers bring the house down with their vigorous and wonderful performances. They appear as if they were all having a gay old time at it.
Firstly, Nunez gives a great characterization of the willful,wayward daughter Lise, and Carlos Acosta impresses with his graceful and athletic dancing as her admirer and suitor. The pas de deux are beautifully done, with whirling pirouettes and energetic lifts, both stars are in top form. But this ballet is more than just perfection of the dance, it is wit and frothy humour that makes makes this champagne bubble. And here it is William Tuckett as the widow Simone who almost steals the show. With a wry face and Chaplinesque mime, she provokes more than a few chuckles as the rascally mother hell bent on marrying Lise to Alain, the rich farmer's son. And her famous 'clog dance' is well, hilarious. As for Alain, was there ever a more lovable simpleton in all of ballet ?
The set pieces are wonderfully choreographed and eye-catching, notably the Maypole dance and the storm scene which ends Act 1 where the dancers really appear to be blown like leaves in the wind. And of course the rousing finale with the expected happy ending. Mere words fall short of the delight this ballet has given me. I watched it with an eleven year old ballet student who had just the week before scandalized her mother by falling asleep watching a performance of Swan Lake . No danger of that here. Yelps of delight, giggles and even hand clapping at the end of each engaging scene. And after the finale, she beamed at me and asked if we could play it again the next evening. Five stars ? That request alone made it worth a sixth !

Despite the obvious technical superiority of Blue-ray, I found myself torn between the 2005 production and that of 1981, which I have on LaserDisc. On indepth comparison, I had to keep them both. In my mind, Lesley Collyer and Michael Coleman have the edge over Marianela Nunez and Carlos Acosta in their dancing and mime. Heart-rending, more believable, these are two youngsters very much in love, while Nunez and Acosta are simply putting on a brilliant show. Notice also that in the cat cradle, Acosta fumbles, almost loses it, while Coleman completes a brilliant move - to an audience ovation. Both Brian Shaw and Garry Grant are also much funnier as the Widow Simone and Alain, and the chicken dances are hilarious - their mime incredibly realistic. I recall they caused quite a stir in the media of the day. On the other hand, despite poor editing, you have the advantages of vastly superior audio/video in the 2005 recording, including a highly dramatic storm scene.

I agree with other reviewers that this is a charming work with wonderful choreography by Frederick Ashton and superb dancing by all principals. All the more pity that it is spoiled by poor camerawork and excessive cutting! I had trouble viewing because I was continually recoiling from excessive zooms and cuts to close ups, framing of tops of dancers, not seeing legs, cutting away from the action I wanted to see. Especially with blu-ray where there is enough definition to see details without close ups, this continual need by the director, Ross MacGibbon, to emphasize what he thought was worth emphasis, was annoying. I much prefer the version with Lesley Collier and Michael Coleman, conducted by John Lanchbery, which allowed me to view and enjoy without intrusive camerawork and editing!

When I reviewed the Collier/Coleman performance of Fille mal Gardee from the 1980s, I expressed a wish that he 2005 performance of Fille would be made available on dvd, since I find it to be, all things considered, the superior performance. Well a couple years later, I got my wish! In my opinion, this telecast, starring Marianela Nunez and Carlos Acosta, is THE performance to get of Frederick Ashton's rustic charmer.

Marianela Nunez was only 23 when this performance was filmed, and considered a rising star. Since then she has become one of the Royal Ballet's prima ballerinas. It's easy to see why her rise was so meteoric. Joy is the best word to describe her dancing. With her blond hair, huge smile, and elegant port-te-bras, she's the ideal Lise. She's the right mix of girlishness, mischief, and pure fun. She effectively pulls off the mime, which was handtaught from Tamara Karsavina to Frederick Ashton. She's the rare modern dancer that can dance the fast footwork Ashton favored, including tricky diagonal hops on pointe. Carlos Acosta, the Cuban superstar, is sunny and boyish as Colas. I love the gusto with which he does jumping jacks in one scene. Both of them are known as prodigious technicians, but in this ballet they don't go for fireworks. Instead, they let the quiet charm of Ashton's choreography speak for itself. More importantly, they have the all-elusive chemistry needed for this ballet. Their lifts seem a spontaneous expression of young love. In the cats cradle duet the ribbons are tied and untied, twirled and untwirled, without a hitch.

As for Ashton's choreography, if your idea of classical ballet is Swan Lake or Balanchine's Apollo, you might not enjoy Fille. It has the air of an English rustic comedy. Charm and humor are the words inevitably used to describe it. It starts with a chicken dance, an includes a famous in travesti clog dance by Widow Simone, Lise's mother. Lise's dimwitted suitor Alain dances with his umbrella. The most celebrated choreography is probably the enchanting "cat's cradle" duet between Lise and Colas. Ribbons are a recurring theme -- Lise is first seen dancing to ribbons, Lise and Colas express their love through a dance of ribbons, Lise and Colas dance with the villagers holding up two sets of revolving ribbons, the villagers' happy maypole dance is interrupted by a storm. Besides being visually appealing, the ribbons are a good dramatic device. It gives a sense of love, connection and harmony between the characters. I find it all very charming. The score is a mishmash of different tunes pieced together by John Lanchberry. Opera buffs will detect several famous operatic melodies sprinkled throughout the score, including the Barber of Seville.

Part of the reason I love this video so much is that the sets, costumes, and video quality are all superior to the earlier video. I also prefer the Nunez/Acosta pairing to Collier/Coleman. If you want something lighthearted, fun, but with enough choreographic substance to be considered a real ballet and not just "fluff," this video of "Fille" is perfect.

I can highly recommend this Blu ray.
A most enjoyable ballet and I loved the music.
It's fun, in HD.
Great costumes.
I have already watched it twice in two days.

La Fille Mal Gardee
Carlos Acosta and Marianela Nunez are outstanding. This would make a great double feature for my grandkids with Natalie Dessay's La Fille du Regiment.