Product: Sleeping Beauty [VHS] (1996)
Rating: 5.0
A Beautiful, Touching Rendition
Made in 1964, and looking every bit of it, this rare and unique rendition is in color but it is a silent film. We hear only the music of Tchaikovsky's ballet and the performers strutting their stuff against a collage of lush scenery - the Palace, the Forest, a lake, Carobosse's realm, etc. The music is terribly rendered. Moving to swiftly and having none of the finesse and bravura that is Tchaikovsky, the emphasis of this video is on the dancers. They are excellent, of course, providing drama in everything from their leaps to the look in their faces. I.E. The King and Queen shine with parental bliss upon the Christening of their daughter Aurora, are horrified upon the emergence of the menacing Carobosee (looking like a woman who has taken a hallucigenic drug) and grief-stricken upon Aurora's death when she pricks her finger. The finale is nothing more than cute customes and light dancing and the finale as the Prince and Aurora travel on a boat across the skies, is very disappointing. But still if you enjoy ballet this tape can be for you, though there are better versions out there ( look for the Viviana Durante as Aurora).