White Nights (1985)

A stroke of misfortune brought back a Soviet defector Nikolai "Kolya" Rodchenko (Mikhail Baryshnikov) back to his homeland and gets introduced to an American defector Raymond Greenwood (Gregory Hines) to keep him in a "leash" while they are in Leningrad, a city where the sun doesn't set especially in summer.Both the male leads embodies the contradiction that's always a marvel to watch in a ballet, gracefulness and ruggedness in equal measure, and a soundtrack that includes "Say You, Say Me" and "Separate Lives", both songs could put a grown man into tears as you try to reminisce the story of the film itself. The dance sequence well captured by Mr. Hackford, enjoyable and captivating in equal measure. The climactic scene is just an engrossing cinematic treat. The female counterparts (Isabella Rossellini and Helen Mirren) both radiant and glowing, their beauty is just easy on the eyes. The Cold War may have long since ended but the film transcends that particular point in history because of the superb narrative that's embedded in the story. --B-plus--

Enjoy the view of Roland Petit's "Le Jeune Homme et La Morte" and Baryshnikov's famous "pas de deux with a chair" (finally captured on film)as an almost participant, and the two self-choreographed studio sequences of Baryshnikov and Hines with a camera that moves as quickly over, below, and above the dancers as the dancers themselves. Having seen Baryshnikov live several times (once with the Kirov, then ABT, and from backstage wings once or twice), I had no problem guessing the outcome of that ruble/pirouette bet. So glory in the dance sequences and the views of two masters at work, and an enterprising and creative director with a political heart. The music is great (I particularly remember the sticky rhythmic beat of "My love is chemical" by Lou Reed). Despite the obvious age that the picture shows "White Nights" is a beautiful movie, with spectacular dancing sequences, definitely worth watching. Personally to me, it is certainly a pity that the whole story is still as appealing as it was over twenty years ago.Overall, the acting is very good. Quite frankly, the pairing of Mikhail Baryshnikov, Greggory Hines and Isabella Rosselini is reason enough to see this film. Not that I'd recommend it to everybody. Sure, it feels kind of dated with the 80's music. And like every single dance movie I've ever seen, it's a little difficult to take it seriously when the characters suddenly stop their dialogue and dance because the screenplay says "insert stunning dance sequence here". In any case, I have always liked the tension in this movie, the struggle to be free and the dancing as a way to demonstrate all the forbidden thoughts and feelings. Baryshnikov and Hines were great dancing partners. Actually, just the dancing alone is worth watching this movie.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

Seeing this 1985 movie (dubbed without irony by director Taylor Hackford as a "political dance thriller" in his DVD commentary) over twenty years later in a pristine new print reminds me exactly what I thought about it back then. That is that Hackford recruited two world-class dancers of completely different genres and then went about and contrived a far-fetched Cold War thriller story around them. It is really the unparalleled dancing that makes this film still watchable beginning with Mikhail Baryshnikov's extraordinary performance of Roland Petit's ballet, "Le jeune homme et la mort", opposite Florence Faure over the opening credits. His artful athleticism inevitably makes the rest of his acting feel rather pedestrian, as he unsurprisingly portrays Nikolai Rodchenko, a world-renowned Russian ballet dancer who has defected to the US after having been the leading performer of the Kirov Ballet.Written by James Goldman, the plot has his character on a Tokyo-bound airliner that's forced to land in Siberia where KGB authorities want to detain him in order to have him stay permanently in his homeland. To help matters along, Colonel Chaiko, the chief Soviet intelligence officer, decides to have Rodchenko live with Raymond Greenwood, a black American who has defected to the Soviet Union because the pervasive racism has not allowed his own artistic freedom. Gregory Hines acquits himself admirably with this impossible role, but more importantly, it simply provides him an excuse to dazzle with his own "tap improvography" (the actual verbiage used in the end credits) in a couple of spectacular tap numbers. The two masters even get to duet twice, and instead of looking incompatible, they are quite stunning as they mesh their divergent styles fluidly.The rest of the overly long story feels like an old episode of the 1960's TV series, "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." where Chaiko plots to convince Rodchenko to stay by reinstating him at the Kirov, which is now under the management of his abandoned lover, Gailna Ivanova. Trust issues arise between the former lovers, and yet another complicating element to his escape is Greenwood's Russian wife Darya who has not fully reconciled with her husband's U.S.-bred values and stays fearful at the possibility of leaving the Soviet Union. The events in the last quarter of the film consist of standard-issue spy thriller clichés and it all ends in a quite unbelievable manner.Polish film director Jerzy Skomilowsky portrays Chaiko in an all-too-familiar dastardly manner. Playing Russian women, Isabella Rossellini (in her American film debut) and especially Helen Mirren are convincing, even if their decidedly secondary roles require little more than crying and expressing regrets. At certain moments and I'm sure they are quite intentional, Rossellini emits a glowing innocence similar to her mother Ingrid Bergman in her youth. The estimable Geraldine Page is wasted playing Rodchenko's agitated American manager. The soundtrack brings back nostalgic memories for me, even if the 1980's-style music makes the film feel as dated as the persistently gray images of pre-Gorbachev Russia.The new 2006 DVD includes a relatively insightful commentary track from Hackford and a nice twenty-minute looking-back featurette which includes remembrances from Hackford, Rossellini and Mirren and a brief tribute to Hines who died in 2003. The original theatrical trailer, a piece of 80's kitsch in itself, is also included as well as previews to unrelated dance-oriented films and DVDs.

Baryshinikov is the one of the best male dancers of all time. This movie allows you to see him up close and view his "process" for dancing. You can't help but watch in awe at his amazing athletic and physical feats... from the very first scene where you see him slowly lower his entire body from a headstand to lying down to seeing him dance "en pointe" in what appear to be a pair of "Keds". It isn't just seeing the dances that is amazing. It is the opportunity to see the dances from the perspective of an "insider who is sitting right there next to him -- as opposed to watching him from the audience.This is dancing "eye candy" at its finest -- my favorite escape movie of all time.