«Ballerina»

Cinema Wednesdays - Loris S. Musumeci

«Dreams don't come true. They're just pipe dreams. Life is merciless.»

Félicie and Victor hear it every day. But the two Breton orphans dream of escaping the old monastery in Quimper to fly to Paris and experience its magic. She already sees herself shining as a star at the Opéra Garnier; he wants to become the greatest inventor.

The ballets of this majestic artistic institution spread throughout Europe. The engineer Eiffel realized a certain project for a tower, still under construction, in the city center, or for the famous statue that would become a symbol of the other side of the Atlantic. We're back in the glorious, charming Paris of the 1880s, decorated with Baron Hausmann's new architecture.

The mother superior, though pitying the two children, hears nothing of their hopes. The fat, mustachioed overseer, always on the lookout for any escape attempt, seems to see through their deepest desires; his role, however, is that of an armored door, and only that.

The night of the big departure arrives: Félicie and Victor, joyfully cunning, finally leave the orphanage, but not without obstacles. Landing in Paris, their eyes captured by the grandeur of its monuments and the dazzling fire of its life, they were soon separated: Victor actually slipped off a bridge into a barge on the Seine. He shouts to his girlfriend to meet him the next day, same place, same time.

In the space of a single day, the young boy, through a series of events, manages to get hired as a jack-of-all-trades assistant for the inventor Eiffel. Félicie, both awestruck and anxious, runs through the streets of the city and finds the opera house of her dreams. She sneaks in through the side entrances and catches a glimpse of the radiant Rosita Mauri dancing «Swan Lake» on stage. Complications arise quickly, because the little girl is discovered and must flee immediately. Will she manage to become a moving rose in that very same theater?

This Franco-Canadian production, directed by Eric Summer and Eric Warin, is an animated film that, from a technical standpoint, rivals that of any renowned American studio. The visuals are excellent, the characters are well-defined and nuanced, and the settings are meticulously crafted. Paris, recreated down to the finest details of the Trocadéro Palace, offers a marvelous spectacle, imbued with the charm of old France.

The story is wonderful, too. It offers young audiences noble entertainment, wrapped in classical dance for a good half of the film and, of course, music of the same style. The language is also very polished, from «streetlights» to «however,» including the inversion of subject and verb in questions.

A true dream, intertwined with a lesson in courage and a tribute to high standards, which Ballerina. It is currently one of the few animated films that truly captivates its audience, no matter how young or innocent they may be.

«Dance is part of me. It helps me live.»

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Photo credit: AlloCiné