Margot & Royal Ballet (2pc)

The first DVD in this 2-pack is "Margot" a BBC TV movie starring Anne Marie Duff, who played the part with nervous histrionics that contrasts with the reserved Fonteyn, so between that and her appearance which bears no resemblance at all to the ballerina (though the dancer stand-in had a similar body to the real woman), it was not believable and I could not get swept up in the story. The second DVD is the fantastic "Royal Ballet" film by Czinner, which is 3 different ballet acts all performed by Fonteyn and her partner Michael Somes. Seeing Fonteyn play Odette in Swan Lake is a revelation, her movements truly swan-like with fluttering bird's arms, head tucking in and out, and very quick beating knee kicks, a marvel of dance-acting. I'm not a big Firebird fan though again, she has the bird movements down, but Ondine is a unique and lovely ballet shown in entire 3 acts, in which Fonteyn again totally embodies the character of the innocent water sprite, and her shadow dance solo is just lovely. A Fonteyn ballet collection to be treasured.

Movie about private life of a world-class ballet star. Includes rare footage of actual performances by Mdm. Fonteyn - will be a treasured video. Movie tells difficult story of private life, but is outshone by actual performances.

First off let me start by saying that the extra dvd is fabulous and is worth the purchase for that. There are some lovely performances from Margot in it that are a must see. That being said the movie itself is cr*p! Horrible movie, inaccurate in conjunction to previous biographies, gratuitous sex scenes that make her look like a tart, poor acting, little to no dancing and I was literally embarassed to be watching it with my mother in law. In the end I threw away the movie and kept the extra dvd.

The biopic isn't very exciting, maybe even a little embarrassing, but I noticed that much of the dialog is taken from Meredith Daneman's very good biography of Fonteyn. If you read it and Julie Kavanagh's biography of Rudolf, you will know as much as there is to know about these iconic dancers, personally and professionally. I actually read both of those books twice because Kavanagh's led me to Daneman's, and that made me want to read the Rudolf bio again, etc. Time well spent, too.The best part of this pair of DVD's is the bonus disk featuring Fonteyn in segments from three ballets. My favorite is Ondine. For a terrific review of the ballets on the bonus disk, I recommend Ivy Lin's review. In fact, read all her ballet DVD reviews, you can learn a lot from them and be guided to some other DVD's you might like to add to your collection. Expert information.

Okay biopic that doesn't begin to tell the full story of the life of this remarkable ballerina. I enjoyed watching it but it never felt like Fonteyn. Agree with others, however, that the extra footage that comes with the film make the purchase worth it.

prompt, excellent service, a fascinating study of the eccentric world of ballet

AMD is a national treasure!!

This 85 mins. biopic reminds me of the 1980's movies about Princess Diana. It is of interest only if you are a fan. I am a fan-so I liked it. It is a low budget BBC production that offers a well written although superficial account of Margot Fonteyn, her marriage to a Panamanian diplomat and her alleged affair with Rudolf Nureyev. This well acted, pleasant looking movie deserves three stars. I am giving this item five stars because it includes the fabulous bonus DVD of The Royal Ballet in NTSC format which means it can be can be played on a U.S. DVD players. (At the date of this review an individual DVD of The Royal Ballet is only available at amazon.co.uk in PAL format.) Here is what you will get with the The Royal Ballet: 128 minutes of Margot Fonteyn dancing Ondine, The Firebird, and Swan Lake (Act II) with Michael Somes (not Nureyev) as the prince.