Ballerina (2016 film)

Synopsis

In the 1880s, Félicie (Elle Fanning), a poor orphan girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina, but lacks any formal training, runs away from her orphanage in rural Brittany and goes to beautiful Paris accompanied by her friend, a young inventor, Victor (Dane DeHaan), but they soon become separated, as Victor becomes an office boy in Gustave Eiffel's workshop. Félicie gets a chance to audition for the celebrated school of the Paris Opera Ballet by briefly assuming the identity of the ruthless, snobby and bratty Camille Le Haut (Maddie Ziegler). Penniless, and without any formal dance experience, 11-year-old Félicie finds her training, and making friends at the ballet school among her fellow-students, to be very difficult. She finds a mentor: a mysterious cleaning woman with a limp, Odette (Carly Rae Jepsen), who turns out to be a former prima ballerina. With no technique but great determination, and the help of Odette and Victor, Félicie faces many failures and challenges. Merante (Terrence Scammell), the school's exacting choreographer, dismisses the worst dancer in each class, so the pressure is great for Félicie to improve quickly to avoid elimination and claim the role of Clara in The Nutcracker. She has the courage to follow her passion and works hard to turn her dreams into reality.

Voice cast

There is also a French language version of the film, with the voices of Camille Cottin as Félicie and Malik Bentalha as Victor, that premiered in France on December 14, 2016.

Production

The film was produced at L’Atelier Animation in Montreal, Canada. The filmmakers used key frame animation of Aurélie Dupont and Jérémie Bélingard, two star dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet, to translate realistic dance choreography to the animated film. Dupont became the de facto choreographer of the film's dance sequences.

Music

The soundtrack album was released internationally by Gaumont on December 12, 2016. The album features both the film's original score composed by Klaus Badelt, and songs from other artists that are used in the film. Though not included on the soundtrack, other songs heard in the film include "Cut to the Feeling" sung by Carly Rae Jepsen.

Release

The film premiered at the Mon Premier Festival on October 19, 2016, and it was released in France and the UK in December 2016. Numerous releases followed around the world.

The Weinstein Company acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film, and a U.S. release is scheduled for April 21, 2017, under the title Leap!

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has received a critics' rating of 89%, based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. Melissa Stewart of Insights magazine of Australia called the film "a heart-warming adventure. ... With the animation capturing the elegance of ballet, it is hard not to be mesmerised by the pirouettes and grand jetés. ... [Félicie's] journey will resonate with for anyone who has experienced the sting of failure and trying to figure out how to bounce back. All of this occurs while humour is trickled throughout the movie making it enjoyable for kids and parents alike. ... [T]he themes of fighting for your passion and dreams is timeless." Mike McCahill of The Guardian wrote: "It's attentively, attractively designed – with a real eye for the light hitting the buildings of a city under construction – but a shade more Black Swan in its DNA might have made the happy ending less inevitable and its pep less repetitive."