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Bolero

Poster

DIRECTED BY:
Anne Fontaine

STARRING:
RAPHAËL PERSONNAZ
DORIA TILLIER
JEANNE BALIBAR
EMMANUELLE DEVOS

BIOPIC, DRAMA / FRANCE, BELGIUM / 2024 / 121 MINS / PG

FRENCH

Bolero is a film concealing a muted pain under its traditional appearance...

- CINEUROPA

Every 15 minutes, someone somewhere in the world plays Ravel's "Bolero" – it's a legacy its artist could never have imagined. 

Renowned composer Maurice Ravel (Raphaël Personnaz) is haunted by self-doubt and melancholy. Commissioned by eccentric and magnanimous Russian dancer Ida Rubenstein (César-winning Jeanne Balibar), he must compose a carnal, rapturous fanfare for her latest ballet. Blocked creatively and cast aside by his peers, Ravel turns to his closest friends for inspiration – pianist Marguerite Long (Emmanuelle Devos, Masquerade, AF FFF23), his friend Cipa (Vincent Perez) and Cipa's sister Misia (Doria Tillier), whom he hopelessly adores. Set against the decadent, industrialised Paris of the 1920s, "Bolero" demands that Ravel draw on the essence of sound itself to redeem his raw genius, or risk being consumed by it completely.

A tribute to the timelessness of the composer’s haunting masterpiece, Bolero, writer-director Anne Fontaine takes us on a deconstructed, elliptical journey through the idiosyncratic life of Maurice Ravel, via his struggle to complete that 17-minute piece of music. Premiering at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam, BOLERO is a celebration of a classical genius.

En Musique - Tuesday 25 March - bolero

6:15 PM
Tue 25 Mar
Palace Nova Eastend

Every 15 minutes, someone somewhere in the world plays Ravel's "Bolero" – it's a legacy its artist could never have imagined.  

French writer-director Anne Fontaine pays tribute to the tortured genius of classical composer Maurice Ravel in this engrossing period biopic. Set in the decadent Paris of the 1920’s, this film charts Ravel's composition of his masterpiece “Bolero”. Wracked by self-doubt and melancholy, the artist must compose a rapturous fanfare for the ballet of eccentric Russian dancer Ida Rubenstein. Creatively blocked, he turns to his closest friends and the essence of sound itself for inspiration... 

Enjoy a glass of wine on arrival, followed by a special presentation by CEO Colin Cornish AM and Section Principal Percussionist Steven Peterka of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra ahead of their concert celebrating Ravel at Adelaide Town Hall in June.

6pm: Arrival with a drink
6.15pm: Q&A and Live Performance
6.30pm: Bolero

Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas

With the participation of the Adelaide Symphonic Orchestra

Tickets: 
Alliance Française & Palace members: $32
Non-members: $37

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