Ralph Fiennes directs Oleg Ivenko, himself and Adèle Exarchopoulos in this historical drama charting the ballet career of Rudolf Nureyev, building up to his defection from the USSR to the West in 1961.

Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, some muted dancing, dull then we get a thirty minute one act play set in a Paris airport where Nureyev has to decide to risk his life and abandon is career over a cafe au lait. That sequence is perfectly pitched and paced. All the childhood flashbacks and training, bed hopping and politics are ballast to make a feature length film from a great 30 minute short.

5