Product Details

• Format: NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• DVD Release Date: November 23, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B0006A9TC4
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #463,451 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Reveals Cirque as facing the same issues that plague most organizations, October 26, 2010

By 

Andy Orrock (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Fire Within (DVD)

On a recent flight, I watched the Cirque-centric film All Together Now, a 'making of' featurette depicting how the Cirque/Beatles collaboration 'Love' came into being. I really loved that film. It called to my mind this earlier behind the scenes-style production, which detailed the incubation of Cirque du Soleil - Varekai. What I found most interesting about 'Fire Within': how it reveals this supposedly most innovative and unique of organizations as no different than any other organization, with the boring meetings, palace intrigue, factional fighting, fear of authority, and often ham-fisted handling of personnel to show for it.

Despite all the problems that crop up (we're seeing the proverbial sausage get made here), there's triumph at the end. Mostly it's due to the often super-human efforts of the performers and to director Dominic Champagne's will to painstakingly keep this often-careening vehicle on the road. Of questionable help: founder and spiritual guide (and awesome entrepreneur), Guy Laliberté, whose imperial reign and 'bungee boss' presence strikes near-catatonic dread into everyone whenever the mere rumor of his next visit enters the storyline. [The palpable fear expressed by everyone about Guy's next visit reminded me of Don Logan's impending arrival in Sexy Beast.]

This being Reality TV, not all the story lines are destined for a happy ending. British gymnasts Gareth Hopkins and Ashley Beaver get soullessly dumped despite capturing viewers hearts throughout the series' dominant arc. And Romanian singer Adrian Berinde - another favorite thanks to the brilliantly scripted narrative of the show - is the victim of middling middle management and squishy directives. To this viewer's mind, no one can tell Mr. Berinde what they want. They can only tell him they don't want what he's bringing...this despite his prodigious talent and his having been specially chosen by Cirque majordomos from what was literally a worldwide search. Berinde's last words are something to the effect of "for some people Cirque is a dream; for others, it's a prison." Those words are what resonate eight years after viewing.