Maurice Ravel remains a major composer thanks to the notoriety he was able to achieve with his famous Bolero. This Spanish-inspired tune was commissioned by Ida Rubinstein in 1927 and created in 1928. Lasting more than 15 minutes, it uses 2 themes in a tirelessly repeated refrain, it intoxicates and captivates. The film traces the existence of a little-known man, he certainly became one of the greatest French composers, representative of an era where his sidekick Debussy knew the glory, but few know the details of its existence. The pace of the film is deliberately slow and its density allows you to know more to know a deeply personal universe, as if outside of time, filled with fantasy and phantasmagoria.
A unique composer
To embody Maurice Ravelthe actor Raphael Personnaz gave of himself, losing 10 kilos for the role with a striking final resemblance. The actor is himself a pianist at base, rather good according to him, which allows him to interpret himself the piano works of Ravel on screen for 80%, the rest being the work ofAlexandre Tharaud for the more technical parts. Maurice Ravel is known to have been a discreet man, very reserved and particularly self-effacing. A heavy smoker, he was also an insomniac, a good pianist but not quite a virtuoso. Victim of a serious taxi accident in 1932, he gradually lost his health and his mind with a degenerative brain disease which caused him problems with writing, motor skills and language. His best-known works accompany the film, the Falsethe Pavane for a deceased infantathe Sleeping Beauty Pavanethe concerto in G majorthe Concerto for the left hand and obviously this Bolero whose composition is shown with talent for an enthusiastic public reception which has never waned since. The true house of Ravel served as the setting for many scenes in the film, Belvedere has Montfort-l’Amaury in the Yvelines who remains attached to his person. The director Anne Fontaine was able to film there after receiving express permission, she also filmed scenes in Parisian cafes to show the composer’s meetings with his friends. The composer’s personal life was very particular, Ravel never married and had no romantic relationships, neither female nor male. Loneliness was the strength and weakness of Ravelhe only spent time with his mother (Anne Alvaro), his great friend (disappointed great love?) Misia Godebaska (Dora Tillier), her faithful friend Marguerite Long (Emmanuelle Devos), his devoted servant Madame Rouveleau (Sophie Guillemin) and her dancer friend Ida Rubinstein (whimsical) Jeanne Balibar). If he liked to surround himself with women, he also had male friends, such Cipa Godebski (Vincent Perez) and friends from the circle of Apachesaka those of the French circle of art-loving friends, musicians or music lovers. The film multiplies the flashbacks to underline the very intense and fusional relationship with his mother and recall his experience within the French troops of the sanitary service during the First World War. The broad outlines of the life of Ravel are dissected to bring out a very dreamlike atmosphere, as if outside of time and space. Alexandre Tharaud takes on the features of the critic especially for spicy verbal jousts since Ravel and he could barely tolerate each other.
Bolero is a biographical film that pays a fine tribute to the composer, with a good dose of charm and acrobatics. Anne Fontaine makes his film look like Ravel himself, without too much effusion or artifice, preferring depth and authenticity. The film is released on DVD on July 10 and on VOD on July 4 for a delicious moment of music.
Synopsis: In 1928, while Paris was living in the rhythm of the Roaring Twenties, the dancer Ida Rubinstein commissioned Maurice Ravel to compose the music for her next ballet. Paralyzed and lacking inspiration, the composer flips through the pages of his life – the failures of his beginnings, the fracture of the Great War, the impossible love he feels for his muse Misia Sert… Ravel will then dive into the deepest deep within himself to create his universal work, the Boléro.
