Swan Lake (1996)

Director and choreographer Matthew Bourne's "Swan Lake" is his third modern interpretation of a classical ballet for "Adventures in Motion Pictures", one of the UKs most popular dance companies. This made for TV production features the complete London West End Show that toured around the world. Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" is set in the present day and features a supporting cast of male swans. The unhappy and unloved Prince Siegfried (Scott Ambler) is mocked, betrayed and rejected by everyone around him. When he decides to commit suicide by throwing himself in a lake at a city park, a beautiful swan (Adam Cooper) emerges from the water. The Prince and the swan become close friends, but their friendship is destined to end in tragedy.

Act 1 of the ballet opens in the Prince's bedroom as he has a nightmare of the sexy swan above his bed. The next few scenes are of the Prince's life: the parties, his girlfriend, and a visit to a ballet. After the ballet the Prince and his girlfriend fight and he follows her to a Soho club. At the club he meets and goes home with a sailor--our first indication that this is no ordinary ballet. In Act 2 the Prince lands on a park bench, drunk, sad, and alone. He spies some swans and proceeds to enter their lives in a spectacular dance sequence. The lead swan (Cooper) dances a very sexual duet with the Prince. They almost kiss, flirt, and chase each other. The other swans dance topless around the two as the Prince is enticed into the swan's world. The swans, including Cooper, wear frilly pants but no shirts--which emphasizes the sexuality of the piece. Act 3 is set at a party where a young man courting the queen looks a lot like the swan causing an altercation. The Prince is distraught and in Act 4 he becomes quite ill and dies suddenly in his bed. Behind the bed is the swan holding his handsome young Prince as he finds peace at last.

The swan represents to the Prince everything he wants to be: strong, beautiful, and free. Matthew Bourne said, "We have gone for something much simpler and more universal. AMP's Swan Lake is about a man with no love in his life. He is rejected by his unsuitable girlfriend, his mother, the Queen, cannot express affection for her son, yet flaunts her young lovers in his presence. And his restricted lifestyle makes it impossible to connect with people without the threat of scandal." This "Swan Lake" was the big hit of 1996 with a myriad of modern influences and themes used to astonishing effect.

It's never an overtly gay ballet, although the pas de deux at the height of Act 2 delivers a strong homoerotic charge. It has humour and evokes feelings of sadness and sympathy for the characters. Adam Cooper is superb as the swan and his dance is breath-taking, and his performance as the evil doppleganger is equally impressive as he dirty dances his way into the queen's affections. Scott Ambler as the Prince mixes drama with dance perfectly, and without his performance as the weak, shy, loveless prince this production would be nothing. On DVD "Swan Lake" is presented in full screen 4:3 video format with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound to showcase Tchaikovsky's score performed by The New London Orchestra. Peter Mumford directed.

Wonder Boys (2000)

Professor Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) is the author of a very successful novel who is trying to write another, but is struggling with writer's block because of the success of his past and the weight of his future. His wife announces she's leaving him and he also manages to get the chancellor (Frances McDormand) pregnant--and her husband chairs Grady's department. In the meantime, he and his student James Leer (Tobey Maguire) are trying to find a jacket once owned by Marilyn Monroe, and a nubile college girl, Hannah Green (Katie Holmes) boarding with Grady has a crush on him. His literary agent/editor Terry Crabtree (Robert Downey, Jr.) pressures him to finish a novel seven years in the writing. James stirs paternal feelings in Grady and raises homo-erotic urges in Terry, who is accompanied by a transvestite. Terry is the highlight of the cast, stealing many scenes and is funny in a loud role. He spends a night with James and wants to publish his book, too. Grady's most gifted writing student is a pathological liar and also a pot head like himself. His peculiar behavior launches the professor on a odyssey of self-discovery and many misadventures. It all takes place over a long weekend of debauchery of one form or another.

Adapted from Michael Chabon's novel and distilling it to its amusing and melancholy essence, screenwriter Steve Kloves and director Curtis Hanson have created an unsentimental and darkly funny tale. These characters may be down on their luck, but they don't feel sorry for themselves. The cast is exceptional, with Maguire in a great performance and Downey at his manic best. The ending of "Wonder Boys" is a little too trite, but after everything these characters go through, a happy ending seems appropriate. Grady speaks the last lines: "As for me, I lost everything: my wife, my book, my job, everything that I thought was important. But I finally knew where I wanted to go. And now I have someone to help me get there."