Tag: polio


Afternoon of a Faun

April 12th, 2014 — 10:44pm

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Afternoon of the Faun : Tanaquil Le Clercq rm- If you love ballet and are familiar with the great artists and choreographers  as well as the history of ballet you probably will very much enjoy this documentary film It is about a young girl who at age 14 was a talented student studying at a school run by the great Balanchine . Four years later she not only was dancing with him but soon after was married to him, although he was nearly 25 years her senior. Tanquil Le Clercq, known as “Tanny” had a long , lovely and distinctive physique. Her dancing not only inspired Balanchine but she was also said to be a muse for Jerome Robbins who created his famous Afternoon of a Faun for Tanny. She was one of the most famous dancers of her time until at the age of 27 she was struck down by polio, which was the plague of its time. This was a disease that unexpectedly would make its appearance and would especially  paralyze children and young adults. It could even be fatal. Salk’s amazing vaccine came on the scene a short time later. Tanny was forced to be in an “iron lung” which would help her breathe and then over several years graduated to a wheel chair from which she became a teacher of ballet. The film consists mostly of beautiful film clips of Tanny dancing with Balanchine and others. There are clips of people talking about this unusual woman and her life. Not only is there Balanchine and  Jerome Robbins, who was very close to her, but others such as Jacque D’Ambroise, Arthur Mitchell and a women who for many years was Balanchine’s secretary and assistant. Her insights, particularly into the thinking of her boss, captured some of the conflict that he must have had for loving and caring about Tanny, but pursuing his own career as he worked with other ballerinas, eventually leaving Tanny to marry another dancer. It is unfortunate that we never hear a meaningful interview with the main star of this film We come to care about her through the old movies of her performing her magnificent dancing and the glimpses of her beauty even in the later years. We also learn about her strength, intelligence and humor from excerpts of letters she wrote, which were read by an unseen actress in the film..  This all takes place  with the rich and melodic music of the ballet, which accompanies not only the dancing but also this moving story. If you don’t have a special relationship to ballet and dance this documentary film will probably not move you very much. But if you do, be prepared to be swept off your feet and be caught up in the true tale  of this beautiful and tragic person.(2014)

Comment » | 3 Stars, Documentary

Sessions

December 23rd, 2012 — 6:37am

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A movie with this subject matter has to be done extremely well or it will be a big flop. It seems to us there would be no middle ground and screen writer and director  Ben Lewin amply  succeeded. It is based a true story of Mark O’Brien a young man who had spent most of his life in an “iron lung” since he had polio as a youth (played by John Hawkes). He has full sensations but his  muscles are very weak and he can’t move his arms or legs.He can only breath on his own for a couple of hours before he is exhausted and needs to be in his metal breathing apparatus. He lives his life flat on his back but yet he managed to graduate from UC Berkeley with the help of caretakers. He is a poet and a freelance writer. One day he is asked to do a story about sex therapists who help disabled people. He ends up contemplating going to a sex therapist himself in order to lose his virginity. He begins a series of discussions on this dilemma with a new local Priest (William Macy) who becomes his sounding board, friend and supporter in his new endeavor. The story soon becomes about the relationship with his sexual surrogate (Helen Hunt) who is a married middle aged woman with a teenage son. Hunt is natural and comfortable in this R rated magnificent performance. Through the interaction and relationship of this man and woman we see how emotional attachments can be formed. For the young man it is a desire and fulfillment of his sexual yearning which gets turned into romantic feelings, poetry and all. For the woman,  she was prepared to give herself sexually but she felt more than she expected. For the audience, it is a gratifying, touching experience where most of us are educated about sex among the disabled as well as being given a chance to reflect on the true nature of  romance and sex. ( 2012 )

Comment » | 4 Stars, Drama, Romance

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