source: Ballet

For this day of the Scarecrow Challenge, I decided to do that Italian movie about ghosts and murder in a dance academy. Oh, there's more than one? You know, the Italian horror movie that Jennifer Connelly did. Oh, there's more than one of those, too? Etoile. Everyone knows this one, right? It's that movie where a girl gets possessed as she dances Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. There's a more famous movie like that, too? But seriously, this is the film that is not Suspiria or Phenomena or Black Swan. Connelly plays Claire Hamilton, a ballerina who comes to Budapest to further her dance career and loses her identity to a 19th century dancer named Natalie Horvath who was killed in a tragic carriage accident. But this movie is not content to merely homage - or rip-off - one Argento film. The end was called out by critics for how close it is to Opera and the entire basement sequence reminds one of Inferno, except you know, there's a giant swan pecking at the hero. Also - Argento didn't somehow get Charles Durning into his movie. Peter Del Monte is better known for his film Julia and Julia. While not a bad movie, this would really benefit from a more artistic eye, but there I go comparing this movie to Argento all over again.

An American ballerina travels to Hungary to join a prestigious ballet school. But soon her personality begins to change as she becomes enchanted by Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. Director Peter Del Monte Ballet or Etoile offers a wonderful looking film with beautiful and authentic locations that give it atmosphere. Setting and story wise it has elements of Dario Argento's Terror at the Opera (1987), Suspiria (1977) and by default with Jennifer Connelly's presence and student theme mirrors Phenomena (1985). Talented and beautiful Connelly is her likeable self even if at times a little glazed over as Claire Hamilton and handles the spit performance perfectly as well as the dancing. Oddly sporting blue jeans, light top, slip on shoes, Connelly looks as though she's actually just walked of the set of Labyrinth (1986). The cast is solid enough, the setting, cinematography by Acácio de Almeida and staging is perfect along with the dancers. Both Gary McCleery as Jason Forrest and excellent Charles Durning as his Uncle Joshua give watchable energetic performances, even if Durning has to wrestle with the script shenanigans midway through. Cleery has a few inexplicable overblown moments, but is extremely likeable. Even with a few stunts it's slow burning pace and lack of suspense may not be everyones cup of tea as the supernatural plot unfolds. It all hinges on the spirit of a ballerina killed in 1891 by a stage coach whose final performance was in 'Swan Lake'. It's an old school ghost story, a haunted Opera house stage and possession film, but refreshingly it's subtly handled until the final reel. It boils down to expectation, writers Del Monte, Sandro Petraglia and Franco Ferrini's screenplay walks an old trodden path for the most part; but in an alluring, indirect and delicate way. Overall, tedious at times; but aesthetically arousing and perfectly watchable.

Thanks to a poor script and the woeful direction of Peter Del Monte, ETOILE was a flop in 1988, never released (to this day) in the U.S. despite being filmed in English with American leading actors. Suddenly it takes on new interest as a direct forerunner of the current hit BLACK SWAN. Jennifer Connelly, who gives a glazed performance especially compared with the all-stops-out tour de force of Natalie Portman, plays an American ballerina named Claire traveling to Budapest to further her career. She is possessed by the spirit of a ballerina from 1891 who danced her final performance there in "Swan Lake". A chilling early scene has Claire receiving a bouquet of black flowers with a note: "Welcome back Natalie". This refers to the 1891 ballerina named Natalie Horvath, but today gives off an eerie note with the coincidence of actress Portman's first name some 22 years later in such a similar role. Both films deal with loss of identity, but ETOILE adopts a very cornball Gothic romance style which falls flat. In fact everything about the film is flat except Connelly's torso (see her in CAREER OPPORTUNITIES made a couple of years later and you'll see what I mean). The romantic male lead Gary McCleery (whose career went nowhere) is terrible - a blank space on the screen, and an endless subplot concerning his uncle, played hammily by Charles Durning, obsessed with buying rare clocks, merely kills time. The ballet master was well-cast with Laurent Terzieff, a wonderful, creepy looking French actor, better casting than Vincent Cassel in the new film, but unfortunately Terzieff has little to do. Similarly, scarily beautiful Olimpia Carlisi is wasted as an evil black queen figure. In the '80s I watched all of Del Monte's films that were in fact imported to America -watching them in 35mm I can give a fair appraisal. SWEET PEA was merely cute, I greatly enjoyed INVITATION AU VOYAGE (which was an art-house flop here when released by Columbia's Triumph Films subsidiary), and JULIA & JULIA was a disaster, a millstone on Kathleen Turner's otherwise booming career at the time. With ETOILE Del Monte comes off as just another hack.

As the first and so far only review of this film I will summarise the plot for any of you who feel like taking on the challenge of finding a copy of this film. The story follows Jennifer Connelly, a ballerina, and her exploits as she grows closer to the leading male in the film, only then for mysterious things to start happening. I wont say any more regarding the plot because it's pretty thin, one more sentence about it would pretty much tell you everything that happens in it. This is not the worst film I have ever seen, but it's also far from the best. Stuff happens without explanation, and it's not easy to figure out for yourself why said stuff happened. Connelly looks like she would rather be somewhere else at times, and so her performance lacks charisma. So considering the film rides on her performance, it would probably be quite apt to say that the whole film lacks charisma. I gave it 4 out of 10.

« black swan » and this movie are twins because they take the same Tchaikovsky ballet with the same supernatural treatment : personality split. I don't buy serendipity and as always, the first try is the more interesting : here, we have the opportunity to go to Budapest. Next, we don't have gratuitous trendy sex but a classic candid romance instead. If Jen and Natalie are as much candid and good ballerina, there is more dark poetry here than later. Sure the movie is much less psychotic or disturbing, it has no awards or box-office but it's not about a difference in quality: the (long) final looks also like "Godfather III" with action happening in a opera house but reveals a funny surprise as well!

Jennifer Connelly plays Claire Hamilton,a ballerina who comes to Budapest to pursue her ballet career. Claire goes to the audition and back at her hotel receives black flowers addressed to long dead ballerina Natalie Horvath. She is possessed by the ghost of a 19th century prima-ballerina who was killed in a tragic carriage accident."Etoile" shares some glaring similarities with Darren Aronofsky's recent hit "Black Swan" for example the theme of loss identity. Like "The Spider Labirynth" it was shot in Budapest. The action is slow and the film is highly contemplative and subtle. It's certainly fascinating to compare it with "Black Swan". So if you are a fan of romantic horror you can't go wrong with "Etoile".7 swans out of 10.

There is a charm to this enterprise, though you must be willing to go for the journey, rather than pick holes. If you're here to see a younger Jennifer in action you will not be disappointed. I would view as a great companion piece to Phenomena, another Italian product in which she also shines. Romance, ballet, mysterious locations and people, it has them all, but it still lacks that final something that elevates a performance to the heights. A delightful curio rather than an essential watch.

I've always been a fan of Jennifer Connelly and when I heard she made a little scene Euro art film that had shades of Black Swan, I couldn't purchase the Blu-Ray soon enough. After watching it, I wish I'd just left it alone. It's hard to call Etoile a bad film, because bad films usually fail at what they set out to do and I have no idea what Etoile set out to do in the first place. It's not a very thrilling thriller, it's not a very romantic romance, and it's not a very fantastical fantasy. It has elements of all these genres, but they never mesh and the story is simply poorly told. Connelly is as good as one can expect given the material she has to work with and there are some striking shots here and there, but it doesn't amount to much in the long run.

I sent away to Japan for the this film. When I watched it, I was spellbound. To start with, in order to enjoy this film, I recommend that you watch a performance of Swan Lake beforehand. Jennifer Connelly's characters (Odette/Odile) will be told and danced with better understanding. She plays two different women: Claire Hamilton and Natalie Horvath. In my opinion, Claire is Odette, innocent and graceful and Natalie Horvath is Odile, seductive and sadistic. When Jason (Gary McCleery), Claire's new boyfriend, and Claire are together we hear beautiful soothing music. But when Jason and Natalie (Claire) are together we hear that perfect melancholy melody by Jurgen Kneiper. Claire's character suddenly changes when she takes on the persona of Natalie Horvath, mentally and physically. It is always a challenge for an actress to take the role of a ballerina. She does do a bit of the dancing herself and looks beautiful while doing it. As Natalie she holds her head higher, walks gracefully, sits up straight, is more calm, and also has no memory of who she really is. I won't give the entire plot away, but it's basically a story of suspense, mystery, ballet, love, supernatural powers, and a race against time itself. If you are a Jennifer Connelly or a Swan Lake fan, send for this. It is now on DVD.