Review of Margot (2005) by Private U — 23 Aug 2008

The first thing you notice about Margot Fonteyn is her dazzling smile; it's rare for ballerinas to smile like that, as their austere elegance would seem to be at odds with joy. Fonteyn's smile is even more remarkable when you consider that she often left the stage in extreme pain, feet bloodied.

England's shining star and a great source of pride for a country previously considered incapable of producing great dancers (the Russians had historically dominated ballet), Fonteyn nonetheless led a life offstage that would seem to give the lie to her smile.

After she married a devil-may-care Panamian "ambassador" with shady underground connections, she ended up smuggling guns for him, even briefly being arrested, then spent 25 years nursing him after an attempt on his life left him paralyzed from the neck down.

Somehow, he still managed to have affairs, not to mention drain Fonteyn's checkbook, and her British friends and associates reveal undisguised contempt for the man and his family. Fonteyn enjoyed a brief respite from this situation when she began dancing with Rudolf Nureyev, at least 20 years her junior, and fell in love with him.

Ultimately, though, she returned to her husband, living in virtual seclusion with his family on a run-down farm in Panama until she died of cancer and was buried in a pauper's grave. What truly remains after watching this film, however, isn't the sorrow but the radiance of Margot Fonteyn in the footage where she dances, seemingly without effort, and always with that glorious smile.