Wonderful character development!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Blistering performances.

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.

Anybody who watches this biopic about the legendary matinée idol, Rudolph Valentino, would think director Ken Russell had a personal vendetta against the guy. Russell is known for his grotesque, often controversial films, and this movie is no exception. The clown-like portrayal of Valentino is as offensive as the image of the white serpent ripping the arm off Jesus on the cross, in "Lair of the White Worm." This film plays like the cheapest gossip rag on the newsstand. It would have the viewer believe that R. Valentino was a flaming, super-feminine homosexual. And there is no way that the real Valentino acted or behaved like this ridiculous portrayal at all. In fact it would have been impossible in the 1920's. We basically witness endless people calling Rudy a raging homosexual, right to his face. We have people mocking him and throwing powder puffs at him! Ken Russell takes an old, unfounded rumor about Rudolph's sexuality, and builds the entire film around that one thing. It's a true character assassination of a screen legend, that should offend every fan that sees it. Of course it was usually Ken Russell's ultimate goal to offend his audience. Nothing against Nureyev, but i truly hated his interpretation of Valentino. I don't know if the man was just too feminine in real life to hide it, or if he was simply directed to mock Rudy, a man who really hated the doubts cast upon his manhood. It angered him to no end, being of the macho Italian culture. If he could see this movie he would roll over in his grave; he would despise it that much. Attacking the image of someone who has been dead 85 years, is just cowardly and disgraceful. Watching one of Valentino's films it is clear that he was a somewhat sensitive, even shy man. Not the freakshow that you see in this 1977 film. Anyway, Nureyev, although a very handsome guy, bears no resemblance at all to Rudolph, so it is unclear why he was cast at all.If it wasn't for the movie's great production values, it would be a total waste of time; the sets and 1920's costumes are really amazing, and the film looks beautiful. In fact, technically speaking, this is a well-made film. It's just a shame that the director decided to make it an hysterical farce, and had everyone act like clowns. If not for those poor choices, this could have been great. I wondered why this has never been commercially released on DVD; now i understand.. There is, happily, another film on the life of Valentino, from 1951, that doesn't mock the actor, but takes the subject matter seriously. The actor also bears a haunting resemblance to Rudy as well. But this movie just made me angry and disgusted.

Ken Russell could certainly do a period picture. Detail, feel, mood, elegance and style, you name it. In his depiction of 1920's Italian heart throb Hollywood star, Rudolph Valentino, all these key aspects are in place.Lacking some of the more outrageous flourishes of sexual and violent depravities that marred/enabled (depending on your point of view) many other of Russell's flicks, this is still certificate 18 with some moderately explicit nudity.The locations are inspired (the desert filming scene is superbly done), such as the Russell Coates Museum in Bournemouth and the dancing and set pieces dazzling and amazing. However, somehow the film doesn't gel as a whole and working out why is near impossible.Some say that the casting of the Russian ballet icon, Rudolf Nureyev as Valentino to be a major fault, but I disagree. Sure, he's stilted and with the wrong accent, but he absolutely looks the part and with that immensely athletic body of his, well....and the dancing is as you'd expect. As the dashing sheik in the desert, just mentioned, he looks uncannily like the real thing.Maybe that the film covers a lot of ground and at a full 2 hours, there's a lot of visual information. Sometimes it feels that there isn't the narrative clarity to support all that and we don't always know what is going on. Or, at least I didn't.The late, great Ken has produced a fine film but one that ultimately doesn't quite work.

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.