Acclaimed Ukranian dancer Svetlana Zakharova, who later became one of the youngest ballerinas in Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet, stars in the title role of the famed Romantic ballet «Giselle,» recorded at the Teatro alla Scalla in Milan in April 2005. The production, with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, and music by Adolphe Adam, also features La Scala star Roberto Bolle as Albrecht.
A young girl from the provinces, comes to Paris with one goal: to become a part of the rich bourgeoisie. To achieve this she will use her unique beauty and charm.
The film suggests Nijinsky was driven into madness by both his consuming ambition and self-enforced heterosexuality, the latter prompted by his romantic involvement with Romola de Pulszky, a society girl who joins impresario Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes specifically to seduce Nijinsky. After a series of misunderstandings with Diaghilev, who is both his domineering mentor and possessive lover, Nijinsky succumbs to Romola's charms and marries her, after which his gradual decline from artistic moodiness to complete lunacy begins.
A film version of the ballet Giselle. Filmed in a studio, using innovative editing and cinematography to go along with the choreography, this film stands out from filmed stage-performances.
