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.

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

I saw this movie at home more than thirty years after it was first made, and without the background to appreciate the director and his style of directing, which frankly got on my nerves. I also dislike "biographies" which take wild liberties with the actual facts of their subject's lives.But oh, the sets! Oh, the wardrobe! And most especially, oh, Nureyev!! Now lost to us due to AIDS, international ballet star Nureyev did well in this movie, over-acting and under-acting apparently per the director's instructions. Of course, every dance scene is exquisite. (I flinched at the reviewer here who burbled that golly, he's a better dancer than Al Pacino! Yes, dear; a moment on Wikipedia would tell you why.) And, given who and what Nureyev was, the nude scenes are exquisite, too, and plainly show a great deal of acting ability (neither over- nor under- ) on his part. Alas, the beautiful seduction scene in the tent has *talking*. Ah, had they only shut up! The grumpy, intrusive dialog is acidic enough to stifle the eroticism of the encounter. For that scene, one could wish this movie about the silent-film era were silent itself.Trivia: compare his nude photo shoot scene with the two women to the costuming by Bakst for Nijinsky in "Afternoon of a Faun." (Google all that to see pics.) I felt terrible when I missed the revival of the Bakst costumes and Nijinsky's choreography when "AoaF" came to my area in the early 1990s; the photo session scenes in this movie made me feel that at least, I have seen the Faun. This means that the director did the work to reproduce the 1912 original wardrobe over a decade *before* the same exhausting work was done for the 1990's revival.The rest of the movie was essentially one long jangle and blare, with artsy flashbacks and an early stab at what I guess might be magical realism, or something else disjointed, recursive, and melodramatic. In any case, it was enough to alienate me and I never did get fully into the narrative thread (narrative snarl?) of the film. So, five stars - raves for the settings and wardrobe and Nureyev, and just "eh" for everything else.

I don't see how I could possibly spoil this movie, as I'm pretty sure most people know Valentino is dead. The manner of his death spoiled the movie for me, fact-based viewer that I am. This movie is a five-car pileup -- you can't look away. Nureyev is no actor, but it hardly matters. This must be the noisiest movie ever made about the silent era. Even Seymour Cassel, known for his work with John Cassavetes, soon joins in the general shouting and gesticulating. The two-whatevers rating is for the costume one of the women wears to the funeral, which makes her look like a Klimt painting. It made me laugh.Please, Ken, leave Garbo alone.