Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Kirpianuscus like each of his films, it is a demystify. precise, ironic, seductive in a special way, provocative. the first challenge - Nureyeev in the lead role. using his talent and art and body. for give the portrait of a world more than the portrait of a man. because it is a film about media and Hollywood and idols and sparkles. about image. and, sure, about glory , success and its large cages. so, a Ken Rusell film. and, maybe, nothing more.

blanche-2 I understood this concept of Ken Russell's Valentino, but I really didn't want to. And I don't think it made for much of a film. What could have been the inspired casting of Rudolph Nureyev, one of the greatest ballet stars of the last century, comes off like bad burlesque. He does have a beautiful body, though.It was, I believe, Russell's intention to make this as over the top and as irreverent as possible. Someone had to have told the actors to be like caricatures or cartoon characters because there's no way any self-respecting actor would put in those performances unless ordered.We do get to see Nureyev dance, but not as Valentino did in some sections. I might be wrong, but I didn't think tap numbers or rond de jambes were part of his repertoire. It's an opulent production with gorgeous costumes and some grotesque scenes, particularly the one in the jail cell and Fatty Arbuckle's appearance in the beginning.I would love to see what a great visual artist like Baz Luhrmann could do with this story. Russell for me is too grotesque.This was too exaggerated, with cigar-chomping bad acting.

TheLittleSongbird Once you realise and accept(if you can) that what is depicted in Valentino is far from what really happened then you will find a lot of enjoyment here. Ken Russell has done better with Women in Love, The Devils and The Music Lovers(also his even better composer documentaries, apart from the Richard Strauss one), it is though certainly more watchable than Lisztomania. The storytelling, told in flashback structure, is jumpy in places which makes it not always easy to follow and I agree that the characters are written flatly, they're very well played but you wish that you learnt more about them. Plus Rudolph Nureyev is a very mixed bag in the title role, he is an incredible dancer(in ballet one of the greats, his chemistry with Margot Fonteyn perhaps unparallelled) and it shows in the beautifully choreographed dance routines, the tango especially, he was also a very handsome man, his chemistry with his colleagues credible and does show some expressive acting in the dances. His dialogue delivery is another story, often very awkward-sounding and at times incomprehensible, and while charismatic and athletic his acting outside the dance routines was at times too subtle and not matching with the acting style of films from the first twenty years of the 20th century. Leslie Caron however looks as though she was having a whale of a time and is gleefully enjoyable, while Michelle Phillips is more restrained and is touching and delightful. Felicity Kendall is also very involved and Carol Kane and Seymour Cassell delight. Ken Russell writes himself in and is thankfully nowhere near as embarrassingly bad as he was in Salome's Last Dance. The music is fitting, it captures the period beautifully and is used in a way that enhances the atmosphere yet accommodates the more dramatic elements. Visually Valentino is a gorgeous film to look at, one of Russell's most visually pleasing films. The sets and colours are lavish and the costumes, hair-styles and make-up are unmistakably 20s. The dance scenes show off Nureyev's talents really well and are intoxicating, while the sexual moments are mostly sexual but sometimes gratuitous. The script is appropriately dark-humoured and sharply biting, you cannot resist how Valentino's conflicts with different people(mainly moguls hungry for power and actresses) are depicted, even if it doesn't say a lot about the characters. Russell like his actors seems to be really enjoying himself, the film is full of his style which goes to go how much the direction shines. And thankfully his stylistic touches while not exactly restrained are not overly-excessive or distasteful, Caron's entrance at the funeral is eye-poppingly operatic, while Valentino's jail encounter, the fight sequence and the staging of the funeral are every bit as entertaining and grandly staged, managing to do so in a way that is not too overblown. In conclusion, not for people expecting a history lesson(and that is not meant to sound derogatory if it does come across that way, more as a forewarning as to what to expect) but for a well-made film that does spark at least an ounce of interest Valentino is worth a viewing. 7/10 Bethany Cox

isdavid1014 The movie is utter trash! The actors and actresses seem to put more trash on poor Rudy. The movie was not really true to life. I've researched and read many a biography and Valentino was NOT the way the director portrayed him to be, other than a great dancer and an excellent actor. I loved Nureyev; nothing personal against any of the actors and actresses; it's just that the story is so over inflated with a bunch of false accusations.Natasha Rambova never even appeared at his memorial. Rudy was not homosexual, and was not a gigolo. He was a dancer and danced with women prior to getting into movies, yes, that is true, but he wasn't the "clown" the way the movie puts him out to be in the movie.It stinks.