''Anna Pavlova'', also known as ''A Woman for All Time'', is a 1983

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

depicting the life of the Russian

ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20th ...

, written and directed by

Emil Loteanu Emil Vladimirovich Loteanu (6 November 1936 – 18 April 2003) was a Romanian-Soviet film director born in what is now Moldova. He moved to Moscow in his early life. His best known films are '' Lăutarii'', '' Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven'', '' A ...

and starring

Galina Belyayeva Galina Viktorovna Belyaeva (russian: Галина Викторовна Беляева; born 26 April 1961) is a Soviet and Russian film and theatre actress, best known for her leading roles in ''A Hunting Accident'' (1977) and ''Anna Pavlova'' ( ...

James Fox William Fox (born 19 May 1939), known professionally as James Fox, is an English actor. He appeared in several notable films of the 1960s and early 1970s, including '' King Rat'', '' The Servant'', ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' and ''Performan ...

and

Sergey Shakurov Sergey Kayumovich Shakurov (russian: Сергей Каюмович Шакуров, tt-Cyrl, Сергей Каюм улы Шәкүров, translit=Sergey Qayum ulı Şäkürov; born 1 January 1942) is a Soviet and Russian actor of theater. He has ...

. It depicts Pavlova's passion for art and her collaboration with the reformers of ballet including

Michel Fokine Michael Fokine, ''Mikhail Mikhaylovich Fokin'', group=lower-alpha ( – 22 August 1942) was a groundbreaking Imperial Russian choreographer and dancer. Career Early years Fokine was born in Saint Petersburg to a prosperous merchant and a ...

Vaslav Nijinsky Vaslav (or Vatslav) Nijinsky (; rus, Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, p=ˈvatsləf fɐˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj; pl, Wacław Niżyński, ; 12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreog ...

and

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...

. A co-production between the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, famed British director

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a serie ...

served as a producer and featured American director

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

in a

cameo role A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

Plot

The film opens in the cold

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

with a scene where Anna as a young girl observes through a window young dancers practicing. Although she catches a cold, Anna decides that she does not merely want to be a dancer but that she wants to be one of the best. It is shown how classical master dancer/ballet teacher

Marius Petipa Marius Ivanovich Petipa (russian: Мариус Иванович Петипа), born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa (11 March 1818), was a French ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is one of the most influential ballet masters an ...

helps Anna on to the path to glory and her rise in the imperial

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...

in St. Petersburg. Here she meets the young choreographer

Mikhail Fokine Michael Fokine, ''Mikhail Mikhaylovich Fokin'', group=lower-alpha ( – 22 August 1942) was a groundbreaking Imperial Russian choreographer and dancer. Career Early years Fokine was born in Saint Petersburg to a prosperous merchant and a ...

with whom she rehearses

The Dying Swan ''The Dying Swan'' (originally ''The Swan'') is a solo dance choreographed by Mikhail Fokine to Camille Saint-Saëns's ''Le Cygne'' from ''Le Carnaval des animaux'' as a ''pièce d'occasion'' for the ballerina Anna Pavlova, who performed it abou ...

– the world-famous

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

. In 1909,

founds the

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Revolution disrupted society. A ...

in Paris for which he recruits the best Russian dancers and choreographers including Anna Pavlova. But after a short time she decides to move to London. Here, she also celebrates major success and her triumph is worldwide; for example she performs in the United States, Mexico and Venezuela. Always present is Victor Dandré – her manager, companion and husband. Her biggest wish to once again to perform at her native

remained unfulfilled. Anna died from pneumonia at the age of 49 in the year 1931 during her farewell tour in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

Cast

** Lina Buldakova as young Anna ** as Anna's dancing double *

Vsevolod Larionov Vsevolod Dmitriyevich Larionov (russian: Всеволод Дмитриевич Ларионов; September 11, 1928 in Moscow, RSFSR, Soviet Union – October 8, 2000 Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...

as Victor Dandré * Mikhaill Krapivin as

* Svetlana Toma as Anna's mother * Georgio Dimitriou as

Enrico Cecchetti Enrico Cecchetti (; 21 June 1850 – 13 November 1928) was an Italian ballet dancer, mime, and founder of the Cecchetti method. The son of two dancers from Civitanova Marche, he was born in the costuming room of the ''Teatro Tordinona'' in ...

Natalya Fateyeva Natalya Nikolayevna Fateyeva (russian: Наталья Николаевна Фатеева; born 23 December 1934) is a Soviet and Russian film actress and television presenter. She has appeared in more than fifty films since 1956. People's Artist ...

Mathilde Kschessinska Mathilde-Marie Feliksovna Kschessinska ( pl, Matylda Maria Krzesińska, russian: Матильда Феликсовна Кшесинская; 6 December 1971; also known as Princess Romanovskaya-Krasinskaya after her marriage) was a Polish ...

Pyotr Gusev Pyotr Andreyevich Gusev (russian: Пётр Андреевич Гусев) was a ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. He was born on 29 December, 1904 in St. Petersburg. He studied at the St. Petersburg School of Choreography under . He was a ...

Anatoli Romashin Anatoli Vladimirovich Romashin (russian: Анато́лий Влади́мирович Рома́шин; 1931–2000) was a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor, director. He won the USSR State Prize (1977) and was a People's Artist of t ...

Alexandre Benois Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Бенуа́, also spelled Alexander Benois; ,Salmina-Haskell, Larissa. ''Russian Paintings and Drawings in the Ashmolean Museum''. pp. 15, 23-24. Published by ...

Igor Dmitriev Igor Borisovich Dmitriev (russian: И́горь Бори́сович Дми́триев) (29 May 1927 – 26 January 2008) was a Soviet and Russian film and theatre actor who specialized in playing aristocratic characters in costume productions ...

as Léon Bakst * Jacques Debary as

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

Igor Sklyar Igor Borisovich Sklyar (russian: Игорь Борисович Скляр; born 18 December 1957) is a Russian actor and singer. He has appeared in over 30 films since 1974. He starred in the 1994 film, '' The Year of the Dog'', which won the S ...

Serge Lifar Serge Lifar ( ua, Сергій Михайлович Лифар, ''Serhіy Mуkhailovуch Lуfar'') ( 15 December 1986) was a Ukrainian ballet dancer and choreographer, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century. No ...

Grigore Grigoriu Grigore Grigoriu (4 April 1941 – 20 December 2003) was an actor from the Republic of Moldova, known especially for interpreting the role of horse thief Luiku Zobar from the movie ''"Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven" ''(1975). Biography Grigor ...

Mikhail Mordkin __NOTOC__ Mikhail Mordkin (russian: Михаил Михайлович Мордкин; December 9, 1880, Moscow, Russian Empire - July 15, 1944, New York) graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet School in 1899, and in the same year was appointed ballet ...

* Tiit Härm as Alexandre Volinine * Leonid Markov as * as *

Vsevolod Safonov Vsevolod Dmitrievich Safonov (russian: Все́волод Дми́триевич Сафо́нов; 9 April 1926 – 6 July 1992) was a Soviet actor of theatre and cinema. He was awarded the title People's Artist of the USSR Prize (1974). Biography ...

as Vladimir Frederiks * Nikolai Kryukov as

Oscar II of Sweden Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...

Giulio Gatti-Casazza Giulio Gatti-Casazza (3 February 1869 – 2 September 1940) was an Italian opera manager. He was general manager of La Scala in Milan, Italy, from 1898 to 1908 and later the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1908 to 1935. Biography ...

* John Murray as

Sol Hurok Sol Hurok (Solomon Israilevich Hurok; born Solomon Izrailevich Gurkov, Russian Соломон Израилевич Гурков; April 9, 1888March 5, 1974) was a 20th-century American impresario. Early life Hurok was born in Pogar, Chernigo ...

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series '' Sunday Nig ...

as Alfred Batt *

Roy Kinnear Roy Mitchell Kinnear (8 January 1934 – 20 September 1988) was a British character actor. He was known for his roles in films such as The Beatles' ''Help!'' (1965), Clapper in '' How I Won the War'' (1967) and Planchet in ''The Three Musketeer ...

as Gardener * Svetlana Svetlichnaya as Masha *

Afanasi Trishkin Afanasi Petrovich Trishkin (russian: link=no, Афанасий Петрович Тришкин; born June 4, 1934, village Pesochnoye, Kaluga Oblast, RSFSR, USSR) is a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor. He is an Honored Artist of Russia ...

as Sergeyev *

as Cabaret director *

Galina Kravchenko Galina Sergeevna Kravchenko (Russian: Галина Сергеевна Кравченко; 11 February 19055 March 1996) was a Soviet actress. Biography Galina Kravchenko was born on 11 February 1905 in Kazan, Russian Empire (now Kazan, Tatarsta ...

Production

, a great admirer of

's films, originally convinced Robert De Niro to play the American

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

and

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

to portray Pavlova's husband and manager, Victor Dandré. The casting was rejected by the Russian Ministry of Culture, as ''

The Deer Hunter ''The Deer Hunter'' is a 1978 war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Slavic-American steelworkers whose lives were upended after fighting in the Vietnam War. The three soldiers are played by Robert De Niro, ...

'' in which De Niro acted was conceived as anti-Communist, and Nicholson had made disparaging remarks about the Soviet Union in interviews. Nicholson's role was eventually played by

and De Niro's by John Murray, the brother of

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nigh ...

. The ensemble of the Leningrad Kirov Ballet danced the original choreography, and in original decor and most of Pavlova's repertoire is performed.

Post-production

There were tensions at Mosfilm during editing due to its almost three-hour length. The contract stated that Loteanu had control over the English version, yet the film was shortened dramatically. Loteanu stated "Had I known at the outset that the contract would be broken, I would not have made the film at all."

Release

''Anna Pavlova'' was theatrically released in the Soviet Union in August 1983, via its original 155-minute version. It was released in the United Kingdom on 10 March 1985, in a 133-minute edit. Retrieved 25 August 2017 The television version, which premiered in 1986, consists of five parts, each 55 minutes apiece: "Rossi Street", "Undying Swan", "Tulips and Loneliness", "Dreams of Russia" and "Touching the Sunset".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anna Pavlova 1983 films 1980s English-language films 1980s Russian-language films 1983 multilingual films 1980s biographical drama films British biographical drama films British multilingual films Soviet multilingual films Soviet biographical drama films Films about ballet Films directed by Emil Loteanu Films set in 1909 Films set in 1931 Films set in London British films set in New York City Films set in Paris Films set in Saint Petersburg Films set in the 19th century Films set in the 20th century Films shot in London Films shot in New York City Mosfilm films Biographical films about entertainers Cultural depictions of dancers Cultural depictions of classical musicians Cultural depictions of Russian women Cultural depictions of Swedish kings 1983 drama films 1980s British films