LA DANSEUSE (THE DANCER)

Director / Stéphanie Di Giusto (Feature Film Debut)
Stars / Soko, Gaspard Ulliel, Mélanie Thierry and Lily-Rose Depp

A pioneer of performance arts who improvised her own dance technique. The golden girl of the iconic Folies Bergère during the height of its popularity. The revolutionary dancer who gained the respect and friendship of several French artists.

These are some important glimpses of the life and professional career of American-born dancer, Loïe Fuller (Soko) that are covered in the English & French spoken drama, LA DANSEUSE (THE DANCER).

Based on the novel “Loïe Fuller, Danseuse de la Belle Epoque” by Giovanni Lister, THE DANCER chronicles Loïe’s path to discovering and developing her true calling, and the relationships that had a significant impact throughout her life at the turn of the 20th Century.

One purely breathtaking performance and a most captivating collection of the struggles and the strides in Loïe’s steps to stardom compensate for what is an overall incomplete and uneven biographical film that is only sporadically spellbinding.

LA DANSEUSE picks up Loïe’s journey from the not so ripe age of 25, where she is residing in America. Perhaps this is also the case in Giovanni Lister’s book as it would explain why such interesting facts to have occurred in Loïe’s life prior to this age, and a great deal more until her death in 1928, are swept aside here. Should you choose to watch this, a read-up on Loïe’s life is highly recommended after the film. Thankfully and importantly though, witnessing the evolution of Loïe’s incredible talent, the suffering she willingly succumbs to it and the ever-growing vision & innovation she gallantly possesses are afforded the unrestrained attention that they deserve.

Some relationships to Loïe, as depicted here, matter more than others. A particularly significant one is somewhat truncated in its development. A shame, for it’s the best work to date from Johnny Depp & Vanessa Paradis’s real-life daughter, Lily-Rose Depp. And a seemingly (or surely) fabricated relationship in Loïe’s life, a character played by Gaspard Ulliel, is a sheer waste of space. Ironing out any character creases though is the star-making, spectacular lead performance from Soko, worth the price of admission alone for admirers of high quality acting.

3 stars