Original subtitles

I humbly beg your pardon, Madame Pavlova — your passport.

There you are.

I'm delighted to welcome you within the Russian Empire.

Thank you.

Anya!

Anya.

Miss, what's the matter?

Your little face is frostbitten.

I think so, anyway.

Sir, take a look.

Little girl!

Little girl, who are you here for?

My mama.

Lyuba, you mean?

Lyuba!

Annushka.

Lord, Annushka!

What's gotten into you?

Mama, I saw them!

Lord, come here.

They're like little white angels.

Light as feathers.

Mama, I saw them.

Little ballerinas.

Sleep, Anechka.

I'll buy you colored thread.

You love to embroider, don't you?

You do.

And you'll be the finest seamstress in the city.

They'll send a carriage just for you.

And fine people will be waiting on you.

Mama!

Mama!

Lord.

They're just like me.

Lord, Anechka.

Mama!

Mama!

Anechka, Anechka.

Promise me you'll take me to the school for little ballerinas.

All right, Anechka.

Now go to sleep.

Please.

Come on now.

Otherwise I won't get better, Mama.

Sleep.

Sleep.

Sleep, Anechka.

Anushka.

Would you like to dance like those boys and girls?

No.

Mama.

I will be the Sleeping Beauty.

I will dance here, in this theater.

I promise you, Mama.

Good day!

Good day.

Good day.

Good day.

What is your name?

Dear young lady.

Anna Pavlova.

And yours?

Oh.

Marius Petipa, your most humble servant.

And what would you like to dance, lovely young lady?

Everything.

That is difficult.

Do you think you can?

Well, if I can't—

Then I'd rather die.

Give me your foot.

More, more, more, more.

Easy now.

Easy, easy.

Bend back lower.

The girl has wonderful flexibility.

Don't be afraid, don't be afraid.

Good.

Well then.

Yours to teach, yours to decide.

And one, and two, three, four!

One, Pavlova — the knee.

One, two, three, four!

Your back, Pavlova!

Cou-de-pied, the angle!

Your fingers.

Pull the knee — pull.

Now, don't cry.

Pavlova.

Don't cry.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, three.

God be with you.

Break.

I'm afraid to think about her future.

Talented, but so frail.

Kate, she is a tenacious little plant, believe me.

No turnout in her legs at all.

She doesn't know that in ballet there can be another path,

at the end of which muscles wither and bones become deformed.

That the heart may one day stop obeying the will and shatter to pieces.

Pavlova, stand up.

Pour it.

Go on, pour it, pour it!

You'll freeze to death!

No.

Pour it.

Are you cold?

No, no.

How brave you are.

Good Lord!

Girls, have you lost your minds?

Good heavens, they'll be the death of me!

Stanislava!

It wasn't us — she did it herself.

Varvara Ivanovna, I was so sickly as a child.

You know yourself — I'm so frail.

If I don't toughen myself up, I'll die.

You'll see.

Girls, imagine yourselves as a flower.

A butterfly.

Let your imagination run free, and fear nothing.

I will teach you many things.

We will learn from nature itself.

We will love it, hear it, see it, understand it.

I am the wind.

I am a swan.

I am a little cloud.

I am a dragonfly.

Pavlova!

Are you all right?

Of course.

I'm a maple leaf that has fallen.

But it so desperately wants to rise up,

up high.

Close, so close to the sun.

What are you doing here?

Thinking.

Let's think together.

What's your name?

Fokin.

Mikhail Mikhalych.

And what, exactly, do you want here?

You're disturbing me.

Why?

I'm composing a ballet in her style.

And who is that?

You really don't know anything.

That is the incomparable Taglioni.

And who is she?

La ballerina assoluta.

She could do anything.

I've tried so many times — nothing works.

What are you doing?

Get up!

You can see it's not working, right?

Get up.

Die if you must — but get up!

Misha, I can do it!

I can!

Ladies and gentlemen.

Colleagues!

This photograph will capture you for eternity.

Oh, when history is watching you,

you cannot make faces.

Ladies and gentlemen.

Colleagues, you are our future, and all our hopes rest with you.

Miss Pavlova the Second, you take far too long tying your ribbons.

Just a moment, just a moment, I'm almost done.

Mr. Sergeyev, please do not offend my protégées.

And your place, Mr. Fokine, is in the wings.

If you please.

What?

Easy, General.

Marius Ivanich, when I watch ballet, I feel truly alive.

It's time you put in for retirement.

What is this cavalry regiment doing on stage?

No, no, no.

You want to be the death of me.

No, no!

I said no!

There — the one that has turned into mothballs.

Are you talking to me?

No, my dear, not to you.

To all of modern Russian ballet.

Then say it louder.

You're new here?

What is your name?

And yours?

Mine is Diaghilev. Remember that.

And mine is Pavlova. Remember that too.

My dear young ladies, your walk reminds me of a military parade.

Could you manage something more graceful?

Marius Ivanich!

Marius Ivanich!

I wish to voice an opinion aloud,

for otherwise I risk being seen as a pitiful whisperer and a coward.

Speak, Mr. Diaghilev.

You see, the sweat of Russian artists turns to mothballs every single day.

Let us together write a new chapter in Russian ballet.

Bravo!

Bravo!

Forgive me, sir, but we have very different handwriting.

Well, in that case, Marius Ivanich,

it seems the two of us cannot avoid a duel.

Oh, good Lord!

And they still let you into this theater?

Ladies and gentlemen, ballet lovers!

These precious gems.

Tonight, for the first time, on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater.

I entrust their fate to you.

Love them and be gentle with them!

Vivat!

I congratulate you on your debut, my darling girl.

Mama, I can't believe I'm really here.

I bought you a blue lamp.

To match the color of the Mariinsky.

On it is written: "To Pavlova the Second, from her loving mother."

And I shall become Pavlova the First.

I promise.

Diaghilev is cruel, but he's right.

One morning you must wake up and say with courage: "I'm burning my bridges."

Which bridges, Mishenka?

This one?

If you burn them, burn them all at once.

Or that one?

That one too.

I know which bridge — the one Petipa is standing on.

The one he's been dragging Russian ballet across for half a century.

That's cruel, Misha!

Madame, I adore you!

Six fouettés!

Madame, I am passionately in love with you!

Twelve fouettés!

Madame, I burn with love! Thirty-two fouettés!

You do it better onstage.

We speak a beautiful but dead language,

Anna.

Ancient Latin.

And what comes next?

What comes next, Mishenka, is eternity.

I have no regrets, Anna.

When we're old, they'll discard us in no time.

Thrown out like old galoshes.

Just as they'll one day discard this remarkable little icon.

That's all.

Will you come with me?

Where?

You know.

I know.

Where to?

Further.

As far back as possible — three thousand years.

Anna, come to me.

Why?

The most beautiful movement a person can make is forward.

Will you come with me?

Mishenka...

Misha!

Will you come with me?

Hold it!

Merci!

Yes, splendid, mademoiselle.

Now watch me.

You do the préparation — softer with the arm!

Softer!

Marius Ivanich!

The arm!

I adore you!

Likewise, Mathilde Feliksovna.

Allongé.

Eyes on the hand.

Ah yes, Pavlova — I expect you at my studio on Rossi Street.

We will rehearse Giselle.

Very well.

Thank you.

Good heavens, why aren't you dressed,

Mathilde?

A migraine, Marius Ivanich — I'm in a dreadful mood.

But you have a performance tonight.

There's still so much time until evening.

An eternity.

Softer, softer.

Not only the lines, my dear.

Not only lines — the flight of a soul in full expression,

give me diamond-sharp edges.

Pull back your shoulder blades — give me diamond-sharp edges.

I saw them sparkle in Taglioni,

in Lignane, in Sokolova.

Now it's your turn, little Pavlova.

Please.

Merci!

Good.

Hold still!

Straighter!

Hold still!

I leave you Giselle for the rest of your long life,

to the rising Pavlova, from the departing Petipa.

Kschessinska, look!

Kschessinska!

Kschessinska!

Hello, eternal Panopticon.

Everyone has arrived.

From my tailor to the Grand Duke himself.

Serge, you're speaking too loudly — it's inappropriate.

Pardon me, madame — I'm perfectly comfortable here.

You're behaving disgracefully.

I'm tired of this tedium, gentlemen.

I'm taking my leave.

Diaghilev stood up.

Your Highness, a scandal is brewing.

Baron, please — no police.

Sit down.

Only for your sake, colleagues.

Sit down, I beg you.

Thank you.

What's wrong?

I'm frightened.

There's nothing to be afraid of.

Nothing at all to fear.

Everything's fine.

Third.

Go.

An ordinary genius.

Look — an ordinary genius!

What did you say?

My God.

Pass it along.

Petipa.

Marius Ivanich!

Marius Ivanich!

From us — from Diaghilev.

Petipa, Pavlova — bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Farewell!

Madame Yegorova!

Bravo!

Bravo, madame!

I'm not Egorova.

I'm Pavlova.

Pa, pa... Pavlova!

No matter, bravo all the same!

Madame Pavlova, bravo!

Gentlemen!

This is Madame Egorova!

I wish to express my deepest gratitude for everything

you do on stage.

Put your top hat on!

You'll catch cold!

Congratulations, madame!

Thank you.

Our warmest congratulations on the premiere.

Allow me to introduce myself.

Collegiate Counselor, member of the City Council — Viktor Dandré.

Yes, yes, your face is familiar to me.

You come often to our Mariinsky.

Hmm, yes.

The weather is truly dreadful.

Please accept my offer and ride in my carriage.

If you have no objection...

Thank you!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo, Pavlova!

Bravo!

Your hand is ice cold.

Yes, yes, I lost my gloves.

Here, put mine on.

May I?

Please.

A perfect fit.

Everything is so white.

Pure.

I'm working on a complex but thrilling project.

A bridge across the Neva, right here.

As delicate and light as your dancing.

It will be the bridge of the century.

What are you thinking about?

I've dreamed my whole life of having a large white hall.

A portrait of Taglioni on the white wall.

I would always look at it while I practiced.

The hall would be my sanctuary.

I'd spend my whole life there and be happy.

Coo-coo.

Over here, over here.

Excuse me.

Anna!

I've been looking for you.

You're late for rehearsal.

Fokin won't forgive you for this.

Viktor.

Breathe. Enjoy it.

More, more.

You know, Viktor, when I die...

my soul will live in this park.

I'll drift above the blooming lilac bushes.

Those who speak of death so often

usually live to a ripe old age.

Just wait a little longer.

I don't need this damned makeup!

You're taking my face away from me!

Close your eyes and be still.

I wouldn't want you to spend your whole life on the Mariinsky stage as a porcelain figurine.

There.

Please close the door.

Mr. Fokin, I'm yours.

We're with you!

Get up!

Bravo!

Bravo!

The safest, most rewarding path, Annushka, is to go with the flow.

If you want things to be simpler and easier,

go with the flow.

But if you want to reach your own goal your own way,

swim against the current, no matter what.

We must never be apart.

Together we create some kind of devilish balance.

Say: "I am Taor."

I am Taor.

Again.

I am Taor.

Again.

I am Taor.

Fingers.

You and I are playing a beautiful, dangerous game, Anna.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

One.

My dear, for heaven's sake, please take my word for it.

Give up these gymnastic exercises.

Give up Fokin, madame!

I have known glory on this stage,

and I am far from jealousy or any such nonsense.

I want only one thing.

Your salvation.

Thank you.

Don't bury yourself alive in these fruitless pursuits.

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

The whole house is buzzing!

They're carrying Fokin on their shoulders.

Are they coming up to you?

No, there's booing and stomping.

My enemies.

Fokine's enemies.

I will not forgive them for this.

Like a fragrant bouquet that spreads its scent,

and a full glass that begs to be drunk.

Let us drink to Anna, our dear Anna — the world has never seen one so glorious.

Slowly, gentlemen, slowly.

The world has never seen one so glorious.

Annushka, not all words have been invented yet — that's why dance exists.

And you are its spirit and flesh.

Drink it down, Annushka, drink it down.

To Annushka's health!

Come on, you swift ones!

Sit down.

I need to have a confidential word with you.

I'm in need of money.

Well, finances are in your hands.

Just give the word and...

This is a private matter.

I have a small estate.

I'll sell it soon, but I need the money now.

Forgive me, my dear fellow.

Viktor Emilyevich, but you've already borrowed money — more than once —

and it's public funds.

Why not go to a bank?

A bank can't give me that much.

Nothing to be done.

No, why not?

It's possible.

Anything is possible.

You can even pluck a crane right out of the sky.

Do this for me, if you can.

You must understand me.

I'm asking you, Anna.

Dear Anna, please forgive me.

We've been trying for three days to get rid of the smell of paint.

Unfortunately, nothing has worked.

This is your home, Anna.

Your white hall.

Come closer.

Who is this?

Is that me?

Yes, of course.

Viktor...

Thank you.

How wonderful.

You can't imagine what Taglioni means to me.

My God.

My God.

I have watched you from the same spot for eight years.

First seat on the right, the baignoire box.

I know everything about you.

At least, that's how it feels.

You wanted a white hall.

You have it.

You want the world.

All of it — and you shall have it.

Viktor, I am not vain.

I know.

If it wouldn't be a burden to you,

receive your old friend Viktor Dandré in this house from time to time.

He will be

most grateful to you.

A woman like me...

cannot burden herself with a family.

All my life...

I will pursue a single goal.

Dance.

And you, Anna, you refuse to have children?

Children who would look just like you?

Arabesque!

Avanti!

Avanti, avanti, Pavlova!

Preparation!

Jeté!

Jeté!

Jeté!

Jeté!

Jeté!

Largo!

Largo, carissimo!

Arabesque!

Carissimo, jeté!

Alto, alto, alto!

Preparation!

Jeté!

Jeté!

Jeté!

Jeté!

Get up!

We continue!

Jeté!

Jeté!

Jeté!

Alto!

Well?

Preparation, turn!

Cou-de-pied, cou-de-pied, cou-de-pied!

Cou-de-pied, higher!

Leg higher!

Higher, the leg!

Higher!

Cou-de-pied!

Higher, higher, higher!

That's it!

That's it!

Carissimo!

What?

What is it?

I can't.

I can't. That's it.

Bluff!

You can do anything, carissimo!

Who told me, Maestro Cecchetti, "I need your whip and your inquisition"?

When have you ever deceived me, you little pretender?

Then or now.

I'm dying.

Die to your heart's content, but get up first.

But why?

Because you are divine, la divine!

We continue.

Good.

Magnificent.

Your Excellency, awaiting your orders.

Stop them.

Yes, sir.

Move in, Captain.

Arms!

Present arms!

Forward march!

March!

Disperse!

Disperse!

Get down, miss — you can't pass through.

The road to the Winter Palace is blocked.

Excuse me — are you Pavlova?

Yes.

I'll try to help you.

My sister works at the theater.

Thank you.

Forward!

Come on, girl, let's go!

Make way!

Make way!

General, forgive me! An actress — the Imperial Theatre — Madame Pavlova.

Let her through.

Go on!

Giddyup!

Anna — wrist, head.

Good.

Préparation — more expression!

Please, Misha.

Lengthen your arms.

Sweep wider!

Wider!

Misha, bend lower!

There.

Good.

Head.

Good, thank you.

Madame, please.

The adagio went well.

And now...

Stand back!

Murderers!

Monsters!

Killers!

Stop!

Help!

What have you done to him?!

Mama!

Stand back!

Swine!

Madame Pavlova!

Lower the curtain!

And continue the rehearsal.

Ladies.

Gentlemen.

Take courage.

Friends.

I-I don't know who brought these flowers to the theater today.

Inside them I found a note.

"Remember us — your brothers and sisters."

"We loved life."

"We loved Russia."

The Mariinsky company refuses to perform tonight.

Traitors!

They've disgraced Russia!

How can they cancel?

I warned you, Your Excellency.

Calm yourself, dear Vladimir Arkadyevich. Empires don't fall over such things.

Can't sleep, Anna?

Wandering around at night?

What's wrong?

Is your throat sore?

No, no, it's nothing.

I'm a little chilled.

Have some tea.

No.

Some champagne, then?

You know, I woke up this morning...

...and I felt the earth tilting beneath me.

And I was sliding somewhere...

Sliding.

Misha, dear.

I was falling into a cold abyss, dissolving into it completely.

Stop imagining things, Anna.

You seem so sad, Anna.

Would you like me to play you a gypsy romance?

I'm probably just a mediocrity who simply got lucky.

What are you playing?

Saint-Saëns.

"The Swan."

Stand up.

Come to me.

Turn around.

Go to the mirror.

Raise your arms.

Higher.

Higher, higher.

Waves, waves, waves, waves, waves, waves,

waves, waves, waves, waves.

Careful, don't rush!

Come to me.

Slowly, slowly with the arms.

Higher, higher.

Ah!

No, smoothly, smoothly.

The curve, the curve.

The soul is in the curve, you understand?

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,

yes, yes, yes, yes — there.

Ah, good, good, good.

Higher.

Rise up.

Rise up, rise up, rise up.

Yes.

That's not a swan, not a swan, not a swan.

A board!

Soul!

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,

yes, yes, yes.

Like that.

Like that.

Ah, turn just a little.

Yes, good.

Good.

Come down.

Fade.

Fade.

Back, back.

Go.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,

That's it, that's it, that's it,

that's it, that's it.

Your arm, Anna — higher, higher.

There.

Pas de bourrée.

Pas de bourrée.

Drop the waves.

No waves.

Wait.

Wait.

A state of stillness.

Arms here.

Hold them like this.

Complete stillness.

Go.

Pas de bourrée, pas de bourrée, pas de bourrée, pas de bourrée.

Open up.

Open up, Anya.

There.

There, good.

Softer.

Higher.

Yes.

There.

Good.

Good.

Well done.

Fade away.

Fade away!

Good.

Don't rush, softer.

There, softer.

Lower your arms.

It's stuffy. Let's go outside, Misha.

I'm flying.

There's no need to fly anywhere.

Hold on, wait.

No, that's not it.

So, what?

What? But what if...?

I saw it so clearly.

What if we try...

If we go from...

Yes.

From the arms.

Hm?

What?

No, the whole body.

No.

What?

Misha.

We'll figure it out.

We need to start like this first.

What do you mean, from the start?

Aren't you sleepy?

Not in the slightest.

Go.

Why aren't they applauding?

Why aren't they applauding?

I'll go out for a bow.

No.

What are you doing?

Misha, go.

Go, Misha!

No.

Why?

Go out there.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen!

Yes.

Everything that is finest in Russia today is here, in Paris.

With me.

In this magnificent Châtelet, which has seen so much,

in this hall where the voice of the great Chaliapin once rang out,

I present today new names that will become legendary — not only in Russia,

but in France as well.

Nijinsky!

Karsavina!

Fokin!

Mordkin!

Benois!

Volm!

Antonova!

My precious Bakst!

Lyonya, check on the tailors — they're probably fast asleep.

Calm down, Seryozha.

Sewing and sleeping two nights in a row.

And now we're out of paint.

Open your wallet.

Monsieur Diaghilev.

Why is Anna Pavlova absent here in Paris?

Does her triumph in Italy owe anything to your shared aesthetic platform?

No.

Nor, for that matter, does our triumph in Paris

owe anything to Madame Pavlova.

Monsieur Diaghilev! They say you greatly resemble Peter the Great.

Yes — and not only in appearance.

Is it true, Monsieur Diaghilev, that you are his descendant?

Pardon, gentlemen, please!

I have no strength to deny it.

Leave me alone, for God's sake!

You're in my way!

I'm going, I'm going.

Get out!

You're not bothering me, do you understand?

Sergei, tell them.

What's the matter?

Everyone out!

For God's sake!

Seryozha...

Pavlova has arrived!

Oh, oh, oh — and what exactly am I supposed to celebrate?

Ah, madame!

Ah, madame!

Late as always!

The source of all our troubles!

Come now, give me your hand.

Everyone come kiss my hand, please.

Hello, my dear.

I hear they're breaking chairs at my production in Vienna.

Hello.

Hello!

Please, come.

Delighted to meet you.

Mikhail Mortkin — the finest the Bolshoi in Moscow has to offer.

Indeed.

Marie, this is Pavlova.

Oh, why does my blue blood give you no peace?

Love me as I am —

the world is worse off without me.

Well, enough?

Your face is plastered all over Paris.

So much glory it makes one sick.

Gentlemen, gentlemen, we've quite worn out our Annushka.

You are the best in the world!

And the best are always with me, for the glory of Russia.

Curtain.

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Magnificent!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Why aren't you dressed?

I'm not in top form.

Nonsense. Get dressed.

You'll dance with Mordkin.

But I was supposed to dance with Nijinsky.

You will dance with whomever

I see fit.

Shall I pay the penalty or return to Petersburg?

I said I can replace you,

madame, with anyone.

Anyone, at any time —

I will not tolerate hysteria from anyone!

I warned you — I'm not in top form.

What?

What form, madame?

What nonsense?

Go!

Gentlemen, there's Diaghilev!

They're heading upstairs.

Forward!

Forward!

No shoes, madame — none!

Look.

They need you alive.

Never mind the form.

The legend of Russian ballet works in your favor.

We created it here without you in seven biblical days.

I need a rehearsal.

Do as you please!

Water!

Go.

They won't be getting a third encore.

A third encore is the privilege of gods.

Wipe your face.

Sergei Pavlovich, you must spare Vaslav.

Why aren't you dressed?

I need a rehearsal.

Go on, go on, go on!

Order them.

Order them to be quiet, Serge!

I can't take it anymore!

I can't, I can't!

Paris is at your feet — step over it. Beyond lies immortality.

Go.

Bravo, Nijinsky!

Serge, I'm tired of sitting in these feathers.

I'm exhausted.

All right, all right, take them off.

Monsieur Diaghilev, how magnificent Madame Pavlova and Monsieur Nijinsky would be united in marble.

I spoke with Rodin — he has agreed.

They cannot be united, even in marble.

Forgive me, Madame.

Is that so?

Don't worry, Madame Duval, we will unite them —

don't worry.

Mechanic!

Where's the mechanic?

Please close the curtain.

Diaghilev let everyone go — cutting costs.

He kept only the accompanist.

I'll help you.

Why are you here?

I will always be by your side

whenever you need me.

Thank you.

I'm ready.

Please.

Go ahead.

Begin.

Misha, they say you'll replace Nijinsky.

I don't know, I don't know.

It's Diaghilev's decision.

Believe me, these will be the best days of your life.

We'll see.

I left affairs of state to come see this little one — and you?

You play with great inspiration, but —

please, follow the score.

There's a small pause here.

Yes.

But I have a legato here...

You have nothing — not even a score.

Forgive me, I play from memory.

In Saint-Saëns, I believe there is a pause there.

Well, if you prefer, we can change it.

Thank you.

Monsieur...

Camille Saint-Saëns.

It can't be.

Bravo!

Bravo, Pavlova!

Saint-Saëns!

How tiny you are!

Saint-Saëns.

Are you free, monsieur?

Yes, just let me turn around.

Forgive me, madame.

Spare me a few minutes.

Thank you.

There are even tulips here.

Impresario Budd.

I'm offering you a tour of England on any terms you choose.

But this is hardly the time for such a conversation.

I'm afraid that tomorrow it will already be too late,

because by tomorrow morning every impresario in London will rush here.

And I don't want you to choose the worst of them.

My card.

Thank you.

Good night, Mr. Budd.

Thank you.

For what?

For everything.

For "The Swan."

Allow me.

Monsieur Saint-Saëns, at our age one needn't dance anymore.

That's a young person's affair.

Allow me, General.

Alas.

I want to talk with you.

You rascal.

We won't let them grow old.

Remember, Misha — you said Fokin and Pavlova make a devilish balance.

You want us to have a company?

Our own company. Yours and mine.

Diaghilev needs us.

I'm a stranger here.

No tears, Anna. Please.

I feel sick about it myself.

We danced so much together and talked so little.

A shame.

Annushka, don't be sad. The Swan is a fine sketch for a student,

but you must go further. Do you understand me?

Further?

Where?

To Stravinsky.

We must break free from this primitive sentimentality.

Ah, my dear sir, when we're dying, we'll ask for Tchaikovsky.

We'll ask for Tchaikovsky.

Don't be cross with Seryozha.

I'll go.

He's leading where no ballet has ever set foot before.

He creaks and stoops, but he keeps pulling forward.

He feels the brevity of life more than any of us.

And so he rushes toward the unknown.

I drink to him.

To you, Annushka, and to all of us.

I'll walk you out.

Gentlemen, I should tell you — Annushka has left.

Serge, you should have seen her eyes.

I have a feeling she's gone for good.

Serge, let's go call her back.

No one walks out on me.

Pavlova, stop!

Never!

Pavlova!

All the best to you, Mr. Diaghilev!

I'm telling you one last time — stop, or you'll regret it!

First she left me, then she'll leave you, then...

I wonder who she'll leave next.

Dasha, change the water in the flowers.

In Paris, eager hands reached out to her —

trembling with excitement — Rodin, Mirbeau,

Saint-Saëns, Cocteau, Sarah Bernhardt — they all reached out to her!

Like a blind man reaching for a healer — and she threw it all away for her pathetic little cabaret.

Does it hurt, Seryozha?

I know.

It hurts.

No. I only felt real pain once in my life.

In early childhood, when I first came to understand...

...that I came into this world at the cost of my own mother's life.

That my life was her death sentence.

Since then, no woman in this world has existed for me

who could cause me pain.

Viktor!

Don't torment yourself, Viktor,

dear friend!

In this fine city of St. Petersburg, on such occasions one puts on a new tailcoat,

fresh kid gloves, a chrysanthemum in the lapel — and off to the tavern.

To cleanse one's conscience with champagne and gypsy songs.

How does she look?

Impeccable.

Her new address: London, the Café-Chantant Palace.

The bottom of civilization.

Bravo!

Bravo!

Mr. Beatty, we'd like to rehearse.

Closer, closer!

Rehearse?

Here everyone rehearses at the same time!

Sir, closer, closer!

Ah, you want the stage? Everything is at your disposal.

Wonderful.

I can't do that.

Neither can you.

From this day forward, our company will be graced by the incomparable Anna Pavlova.

Bravo, bravo!

Embezzlement!

Bribery!

Fraud!

Everyday corruption taking place here, within the walls of City Hall!

The Bridge of the Century is an illusion for fools!

The Bridge of the Century is a cleverly

contrived swindle!

Gentlemen Lidvald!

Esther!

Dondré!

I demand you be put on trial!

I've never had luck at gambling.

You've been lucky in what matters most —

that I'm by your side.

You're a child!

Oh, a great child!

Hmm, a big child, but a foolish one.

But we shall share the burden of glory together.

For now, let's share the grapes.

Ah!

With pleasure.

Look — either a detective or an English ballet enthusiast,

which is equally dangerous.

Look.

Between toothpaste, whiskey, and horses.

But you stand out — as it should be — just a little bit higher.

Stop it.

My sympathies, my sympathies.

I'm a soloist of the Imperial Theatre — they seem to forget that.

Well, I'll remind them.

Mishenka, have no doubt.

You are a soloist at the London Variety Theatre.

I haven't signed the contract yet.

Good day, Madame Pavlova!

Albert Dondre.

Are you Victor Dondre's brother?

Yes.

His younger brother — and his only one.

Oh, I won't intrude — my respects.

You seem troubled.

What's happened to Victor?

Please don't worry, Madame Pavlova, I beg you.

I know you are his closest friend,

that he has no one in this world

but you.

Tell me — what's happened to Victor?

Please, Madame Pavlova, don't worry.

Victor is about to be put on trial.

Forgive me, Madame.

I wasn't expecting you.

What a surprise!

I'm so delighted to see you!

I am endlessly delighted!

And all of London is delighted.

It happens so rarely, Madame.

Once in a hundred years — I am overjoyed!

I am prepared to sign a two-year contract with you.

Really?

Two years at my theater?

Oh, I shall do everything to make you feel right at home here,

believe me.

Oh, Madame!

How happy I am!

Mr. Budd.

I need all the money now.

The full amount, and a promissory note payable in St. Petersburg.

Good Lord!

You may have the money whenever you wish.

Immediately.

I'll write the note at once.

Two years in my theater.

I can hardly believe it.

Also, you should know — I must go to Russia for a week.

What?

That's impossible, miss!

It's simply unthinkable!

Please, understand!

Just one week, Mr. Budd!

London awaits your appearance every evening.

Your name is on everyone's lips.

We are so happy that the queen of ballet is finally with us,

and now you want to leave.

I don't want to hear a word of it.

Ask me for anything you wish,

I'll refuse you nothing.

Just don't go.

Will you stay?

The queen will kneel before you.

Please, madam, what are you doing?

Please rise, madam!

I beg you, please — you're embarrassing me.

Is something wrong?

I'll do everything I can, but please—

Don't leave me.

I really must go.

Mama.

We must sell everything right away.

The furniture, the piano, the portraits, the hall.

Everything.

But—

Darlings!

Let's go.

Hey, cheer up!

The money is needed in two days.

The full amount, all of it.

My darling, you don't know...

Mama, go.

Everything we're doing is in the name of his own brother, Albert.

Give the money to the lawyer in his brother's name.

I was never here.

Everything in his brother's name.

Understood?

All right, my darling.

Go on now.

All right.

Mama.

Mama...

Anna, I beg you, don't worry.

Hello! Hello, hello!

Hi!

Anna!

Victor, dear.

Forgive me...

For what?

Stand up straight.

Thank you.

For what?

What are you talking about?

That money you sent.

I'm disgusted with myself.

Enough of that.

It's over.

It never happened.

That's it.

Viktor, everything will be fine.

You'll see.

I'll work myself to the bone from morning till night,

but I will have a company.

My own company.

Diaghilev devoted himself to the chosen few.

I choose everyone else.

Stay by my side.

Never question, never judge, never doubt.

The world is so small, and none of us has time to spare.

I know a language that everyone understands.

The language of dance!

Look — some lady has been following you.

Who is she?

Oh, that's Anastasia.

Let me introduce you.

Hello!

Anastasia.

A pleasure, miss.

Please.

Do you have a company?

Yes, thank you.

And we're heading on tour to America.

Careful, Jacob, hold it. What's in there?

Is it made of lead?

Lord only knows...

Madame Pavlova, I'm Hurok.

Sol Hurok.

Please, speak to me in Russian.

I was born in Odessa.

I'm delighted to welcome you to American soil.

Very pleased, believe me.

How charming.

Hello, Mr. Hurok.

Where are the journalists?

Madame.

I know you are Europe's greatest ballerina,

but in America, you'll have to start from scratch.

The press will come, but only after your performance — or not at all.

So, at 7:15 our bus leaves the port.

At 8:13 we're at the hotel, at 9:05,

dinner at 10:43, departure for the Metropolitan,

at 11:15 you are in your costume,

curtain precisely at midnight.

Was there no other time for us in America?

Madame, I am a small soldier, but a loyal one.

Please, ask no unnecessary questions.

Your car is waiting.

So, first the opera — two, two and a half hours,

then an intermission, exactly 30, 35, 40 minutes to prepare the stage.

In short, you may begin your dances at precisely midnight.

So, you begin at midnight.

Not a second earlier, not a second later,

because here that is

the law.

Please, hand me the score.

Understood.

Tchaikovsky.

Poor fellow — to think they perform him with their feet.

Ballet, with all those pirouettes and kicking legs —

no thought whatsoever.

It simply cannot express the full range of human feeling.

Now take opera, for instance.

Magnificent!

Begin!

Begin!

Curtain!

Begin!

Begin!

Begin!

Anna, it's time to start.

The audience is waiting.

They can wait.

Not until the warm-up is finished.

There can be no talk of any performance.

Begin!

What are you doing here?

Those scoundrels won't let me into the orchestra pit.

They've put a lock like this on the door.

Jump over the railing!

Gentlemen, I'm off to jump into the orchestra pit!

Martin, where are you going, dear?

I-I can't take it anymore.

Well, this should be interesting to watch.

I have to leave.

Come on, let's watch!

Begin!

Begin!

Do you hear that?

What I'm hearing.

Do you hear it?

What?

Do you hear it?

Do you see that?

What I'm seeing!

I see it and I hear it — in a word —

If you don't start the performance in 15 seconds,

you can get out.

Back to Europe.

I have my own conductor.

I protest.

Protest noted.

And I protest as well.

Yours noted too.

Please.

Curtain.

Bravo!

Bravo!

Ladies and gentlemen.

Forgive me, but everything is fine.

Madame Pavlova.

Ladies and gentlemen.

Columbus discovered America at dawn.

You are discovering it at midnight!

Good luck to you!

What's wrong?

My legs are like wood.

Maybe we should cancel the show?

Madame, what's wrong?

Carissimo!

Hold on!

What's happening?

Get a doctor.

Gentlemen.

My God!

It's all right, Mashenka.

It's all right.

Carissimo...

it's time!

I still have

Sixteen bars...

I have a full eight bars left.

Jerry, it's Rich.

It's unbelievable.

She was lying there, I saw it.

She had a seizure.

Then she jumped right back up.

Save space on the front page — I'll file after every act.

Jerry, I'm dictating.

The house is silent.

Dead silence!

No, no, you've got it wrong.

They're not asleep.

They're watching her like sleepwalkers.

Jerry, she's still asleep, not knowing

that America has fallen for her no less

than Russia has!

Tonight at midnight, a new era of ballet began in America.

Jerry, God is in her!

Who said that?

I did.

And you can trust me.

Mr. Dandré.

What does Madame Pavlova love most in the world?

Tulips.

Is that all?

And to be left in peace.

Perfect!

Tulips and solitude!

Please, put that on the front page!

Yes!

America has said yes.

I'd like to know just one thing: who am I?

Your husband, Anna, or your impresario?

Now go.

Little maple leaf!

Little maple leaf.

Hey!

Little maple leaf, don't walk on by!

It can't be!

Children, children, it's Pavlova!

Pavlova!

Now show us, Anna, how a maple leaf falls.

Or maybe a dragonfly?

Or a moth?

Where are you from?

Same as always — from everywhere.

What lovely students you have!

Dear Oganson, the girls are wonderful.

Anna Pavlovna, do your children study ballet as well?

Children, children, children.

Children!

Let's spin around!

Spin, spin, spin!

No.

I refuse to dance in "King Candaules."

Anna Pavlovna, you restless soul.

If you cancel the performance, you'll have to pay a penalty.

You won't have enough money left even for a cab, my dear.

That would be too great a luxury even for you.

Do you understand?

Please.

I'm ready.

I'm proud of you, Anna.

You are Russia's glory.

But I am obliged to uphold the traditions of this theater.

Discipline.

Without exception.

Vladimir Arkadyevich, I want to dance — but only what

I love.

Are you planning to leave the theater?

I... I have belonged to the Mariinsky since the day...

When I first set foot in it.

Invite Fokine.

Have him stage Swan Lake for me.

I've been waiting for this.

I've been waiting for this moment since the day I left school.

I'll rehearse through the night if I have to.

In July you have London, in August, Berlin,

then your holiday.

We'll return to this matter in September.

For now — King Candaules.

I'm begging you.

No.

It's a dead production.

I assure you, your refusal will displease the Court.

If Russia knows me and loves me,

it is not by the Court's favor.

Misha!

Are you swimming against the current, Anna?

I'm not alone — there are two of us.

I held my ground.

My bruises teach you nothing?

Hmm?

They do, they do.

Why are you looking at me so strangely?

I missed you.

By the way, Anna, have you read today's papers?

What do they say?

You haven't read them?

Don't.

Come on.

Let's go.

What principles?

Madame Pavlova couldn't care less about your principles!

She couldn't care less about you or about the theater!

How do you like that?

She'll dance this tsar role.

She refuses.

It's a wooden image!

It's Pavlova.

Do the interests of the theater matter or not?

So what?

We're sick of it too, and we still dance.

That's exactly what infuriates you —

her uniqueness.

Just leave Pavlova alone, will you.

Quiet!

I ask that all debate stop and we begin rehearsal.

Forgive me.

But who gave her the right to act this way?

Our brief life did.

Such a brief life in ballet.

My dears.

I've come to say goodbye to you.

This is for you.

Uncle Yasha, this is for you.

Most grateful.

Girls, thank you.

Boys.

Thank you, Anna Pavlovna.

But only for a while, as always.

Only for a while.

We melt into the music — softer, softer, softer!

What are you playing up there?

Stop, stop, stop — it's impossible to play like that!

Forgive me, madame, but the thing is,

that you are dancing something which, unfortunately, isn't in the score.

I'm afraid he's right.

Yes, that's true.

Is he right?

If I feel it, then it exists.

I expected no other answer.

Gentlemen, after D minor we drop the eighth notes.

Full note.

Madame, does the pause remain the same?

The pause, gentlemen, is at the tip of my baton.

Everyone watch me with the eyes of a hawk.

Dear Steyr.

After the fermata, when I move into the pas de bourrée,

you must drift up to heaven together with me.

But then who will stay here to conduct, madame?

You.

I'm waiting.

Here's how it is, gentlemen.

Madame dances, I dance after her,

you dance after me, and at the right moments we all soar to heaven together.

Listen to the music.

Excuse me, madame.

The Kaiser will be here shortly.

He will extend his hand to you — you must kiss it.

Don't interrupt — we're rehearsing!

You're falling behind.

A whirl, whirl, whirl, whirl,

whirl, whirl.

Congratulations — now leave.

Anna!

What a storm.

Girls, the jump must be lighter, more like air!

Madame!

Why are you late?

Madame, please forgive me.

But I — I'm not to blame!

Who is to blame?

Madame!

Crown Prince Ferdinand, the heir apparent, has been assassinated in Sarajevo.

Russia is at war.

Madame, it's not my fault!

War!

What war?

Russia and Germany.

Hello.

One moment, please.

Trains to Petersburg, Warsaw, Riga, and Vilna are cancelled.

Both passenger and freight.

Thank you.

Russian subjects residing on Imperial territory

are to be interned.

But my company is not only Russians.

English, French, Polish...

What are we to do?

Only Russians are subject to internment.

But we submitted a petition to the Kaiser.

Victor Dandré received many assurances.

Victor Dandré is my impresario.

I know.

I'm very sorry, but the petition has been denied.

I can offer you a pass to the Belgian border.

That is all I can do for you.

You must leave by tomorrow morning.

Thank you.

You don't have much time.

I don't know — to the right, I think. Over that way.

Or wherever you like.

Madame Pavlova, I've done the impossible!

A two-year engagement throughout Latin America.

You'll start with Mexico.

It's fairly quiet there.

Signora, don't worry.

This is the safest place in all of Mexico.

The post office and telegraph are never blown up.

All warring nations respect and value us.

Write — Ciudad de México.

The Presidential Palace.

His Excellency, President of the Mexican Republic, Alfredo Carranza.

Mr. President.

I have come to your country to dance.

I ask you to ensure the safety of my company.

Stop.

With the deepest respect.

Anna Pavlova.

Señor!

Are you certain this telegram will reach its destination?

We live in times when no one is certain of anything.

Good day, Madame.

Good afternoon!

My respects.

Which of you is Madame Pavlova?

I am Pavlova.

Captain Ortiz Francisco Romero.

By personal order of the President of the Republic of Mexico, I am charged—

—with escorting you and ensuring your safety and that of your company during your stay in our beautiful and hospitable country.

You need not worry.

In Mexico, we know how to honor great artists

such as yourself.

Officer, are these regular troops or rebels?

Believe me, señora, these are the finest soldiers of the Republic.

Attention!

In honor of Señora Anna Pavlova, the divine— fire!

What could be more wonderful?

Third-class carriages, third-class hotels,

and a third-class audience to match.

Ha-ha-ha!

Ha-ha-ha.

Moscow with its golden domes.

The ringing of the bells.

The mighty Tsar Cannon.

The fragrance of fresh pies.

Little candies and round bread rings.

Sleighs gliding like swans.

For his beloved, for dear Anya, a song drifts from the coachman's seat.

Rosy-cheeked schoolgirls.

Giddy from the frost, gracefully shaking

the soft snow from their heels.

Anna!

Anna!

Mr. Dandré!

She's gone mad!

Look at what she's doing!

Anna!

Anna!

Anna!

Don't touch me.

I'm flying.

Anna...

Welcome, Madame Pavlova.

Do me the honor of allowing me to offer you a cup of coffee.

Yes, gentlemen.

The governor is right.

Our coming here was a grave mistake.

That is your opinion, Mr. Steyer.

On my part, signora, it would be criminal to allow you to perform

with your troupe in any venue.

Yellow fever is raging through the city.

Together we would unwittingly create a hotbed of infection,

signora.

But, Governor...

The people of your city are gathering in crowds in the squares.

They are mourning their dead.

Governor.

Give me the square for one evening.

Anna Pavlova, our souls are warmed by your tenderness.

You have come to us like a messiah.

Last night we looked at the map.

We searched for the country where you were born.

It is far away.

On the other side of the world.

Anna Pavlova.

Daughter of Russia.

Our hands reach out to you, to touch her greatness.

May God keep you, and in His generosity return to you all

that you so generously give to those you hold dear.

Light, warmth, joy, and a love of life.

Farewell, Anna Pavlova.

Madame, this is the finest corner of London.

Come with me.

Coming, ma'am.

I want to plant 8,000 tulips here.

That will cost you dearly.

Not one less?

I understand — I'll find you the very best.

And where would you like to plant them?

On that lawn over there.

My!

8,000 tulips.

Beautiful, but very expensive.

Beauty will save the world.

Fine words. Very fine words.

Who said that?

A Russian man — we lived in the same city.

I see.

Who was he?

A gardener?

No, a writer.

I imagine he bought his tulips at a much lower price,

yes?

Where to, madame?

Which way do we turn?

Where is north?

And Madame...

Victor, where is north?

Oh, I don't know.

Madame, do you see the moss on that tree?

That's north.

Is Russia that way?

No, Madame, that's my home.

A bit further is Denmark, and Russia is to the right.

Anna, come along. The tea's getting cold.

Anna?

I bought you every paper in England.

There's nothing new in them.

There's still war in Russia.

They write about some unrest among the soldiers.

Don't be sad.

Anna.

Come, let's have tea.

Anna!

Victor, where have you been?

Masha!

Revolution in Russia.

The Tsar has abdicated.

What?

Revolution?

Where is Anna?

She's waiting for you at the station.

You're late.

Revolution in Russia.

Madame, what a wind.

Victor, we must go back.

We must break the contracts and go to Russia.

You'll be in debt to the whole world.

A lifetime wouldn't be enough to pay it all back.

What are we to do?

Honor the contracts and dance.

Annushka...

Anna!

What?

We've arrived.

Where are we?

I don't know.

Where are we?

Lord.

The end of the earth.

No land at all.

Nothing but sand.

Well, sand isn't fire.

Grab the bags — we walk from here.

Dear Madame, how strange it all is.

All 8,000 of your tulips have bloomed,

and still you haven't come.

Who's there?

Who's there?!

Don't worry, it's me.

Well, Seryozha, what do you think of our home?

America to the left.

Europe to the right.

And you — right in the middle.

Swan Landing.

Aren't you afraid they'll eat you sooner or later?

They're vegetarians.

Yes.

A rare case.

Seryozha.

How's our air treating you?

Wonderful!

Oh, Anya, Anyushka, let all these creatures go and be free.

And off to Paris.

That same Paris which awarded you the Academic Palm.

That is recognition, but not love.

Paris, Sergei Pavlovich, always was, is, and will be yours.

Let's drink to our new union.

In the name of Russian ballet's triumph.

Let us drink instead to Nijinsky's health.

God grant that he finds himself again.

In eight years of ballet, Nijinsky created not only his immortality,

but an entire era in world ballet.

I've spoken with the finest psychiatrists.

There is hope.

I will save Vaslav.

But what of the company without Nijinsky?

You want to know the truth?

The old company is gone.

Serge Lifar and Sergei Diaghilev — c'est tout.

And my beloved Paris devours ten geniuses a night.

There are no more geniuses!

Into the Seine or onto a noose.

Anyushka.

Don't you want a triumphant return to Paris?

You'd have everything.

A company.

Fokine.

Me.

Victor will always be by your side.

I don't want to, and I can't.

But why can't you?

I can't sign a death warrant for my own company.

Russian Season.

Russian Season.

Russian Season.

Blinis.

Russian Season.

Hot blinis!

I'll take them by the recipe.

I'll allow myself just one.

No, no, no, madame, good heavens, no.

You must keep your figure — stay slim and trim.

I have nothing to lose.

I'll eat them all myself.

Oh, Mr. Hurok!

Oh, my dear, my joy!

It's you!

Good morning, my darling!

You grow lovelier every day!

Anna!

How do you do it?

You look radiant and fresh.

And you are disarmingly gallant!

It's incomprehensible.

Oh, Anna, darling, how your company has grown!

Yes.

Victor, another panic on the stock exchange.

That was to be expected.

We're on the brink of disaster.

Anna, try to look at everything that's happening realistically.

Everything that's happening.

Nobody wants to watch ballet anymore.

They're rushing to the stock exchange.

That game excites them, not ballet and theater.

America is in crisis.

It's a typhoon that won't spare us either.

Anna!

Anna!

Dissolve the company, we'll pay severance, send everyone home.

As for you, I promise to keep the very same terms for you.

You won't lose a thing.

Anna, darling, you'll remain the highest-paid ballerina in America, just as before.

Anna, I'm afraid the theaters in Boston and Philadelphia will be empty.

Completely empty?

Nearly empty!

So, not empty then.

I said nearly!

Read the newspapers, Anna!

And finally understand.

Yes, of course he's right, dear.

Dismiss the company, at least for a while.

And then...

Be quiet!

Mr. Hurok, you said "almost."

So wherever the halls are empty,

please don't pay me — only the company!

Anna, my contract isn't with the company —

it's with you. You must honor it.

I don't want to hear it.

You'll be back on pointe before I ever dismiss my company.

Faster, everyone!

All is well — we're going to rehearse.

Work, girls, work.

You think of me sometimes.

Anna, so much of you is in this house.

Yes, yes.

Look — you unwittingly make everyone around you envious.

Misha, my dear.

Are you happy with your life?

Yes.

I have my school, students I love — everything's fine.

I'm so happy for you.

You know...

If you don't look at the shore —

the Hudson looks like the Neva.

No, Annushka, it doesn't.

And the stage?

I tried.

I need a company.

A large one.

Like the Mariinsky.

I'm tired of making miniatures — I've had my fill of them.

Get out!

Even Diaghilev.

The almighty Diaghilev!

Your Diaghilev.

Your Diaghilev couldn't build a company either.

Misha, Misha!

Come with me?

I saw your Don Quixote.

A most magnificent spectacle!

The mule was real.

The rest — forgive me.

And me?

You need old Cecchetti, young Fokine, and the Mariinsky stage.

Your health, my lady.

Ah, Misha...

Do you remember that day I came running to you in the spring?

It seems to me...

...that I have lived before.

And in that previous life, everything was better.

Yes, Misha.

Yes.

Including your visit.

Never mind. Let it be.

Don't make films, Anya.

Neither film nor painting nor photography can capture you in your true dimensions.

You become Pavlova only when the living breath of the audience is there.

Remain a legend — that's better.

We'll hold on, Misha.

We will.

Diaghilev is finished.

Nijinsky is in a hospital.

Mordkin and I have been reduced to ballet nursemaids.

You're the only one left.

You're still in the saddle.

As the Americans say.

Hold on, Annushka.

It's stuffy in there.

Let's go outside.

How is your son?

Wonderful.

He dances better than I do.

Your wife?

Fine, thank you.

How is Viktor?

Fine, thank you.

Misha?

You know, I woke up in the middle of the night,

and I was frightened.

Don't be foolish, Anya.

What's the matter?

I thought — what if I die?

And remain forever in a foreign land.

We are small islands scattered across the ocean,

but we always remained part of the mainland.

That's an illusion, Mishenka.

We are not islands.

We are prisoners of our fate.

Without our homeland, we are nothing.

We've done something for Russia, and we will be remembered.

I'm certain of it.

Russia has done far more for us.

Look who's here!

Hello, Victor!

So glad to see you, Mr. Hurok!

Wonderful, old friend!

Very glad.

Thank you.

Madame Pavlova, the Sunday Times asks—

You've traveled the entire world.

Where would you ultimately wish to live?

Somewhere in Russia.

New York Times!

New York Times!

Madame Pavlova!

Madame Pavlova!

Excuse me, please.

Madame Pavlova, I'm a correspondent—

New York Times.

Forgive me — what could a ballerina of your stature

wish for, at the very height of her fame?

To dance until my very last day.

Madame, I represent the Miami Herald.

How have you managed to bring audiences back?

Gentlemen, it's really quite simple!

You just have to want it enough.

I remember you when you were still so...

New York Mirror, Ken Miller.

Forgive me, Madame Pavlova.

As I understand it, Russia has caused you considerable grief.

Excuse me, excuse me.

What would you say on that matter?

Never confuse, gentlemen, Russia with the Imperial Theatre directorate.

Madame, I'm Kari Goodman.

I would very much like to—

No wishing, please. I don't have another ship waiting in reserve.

And this one is already coming in.

So please forgive us, gentlemen.

Madame Pavlova!

What are you taking with you as a memory of New York?

Ah!

The inscription on the facade of the main post office.

Neither snow, nor rain, nor storm shall stay the American Post from the swift completion of its duties.

That's about me.

Misha!

Misha!

Dear Serge Lifar, they say you're the most fashionable dancer in Paris now.

Unfortunately, that's true.

Why so?

Unfortunately?

Do you mind if I smoke?

Not at all, please.

So why?

Unfortunately?

The peak of fame—

It's the point from which the decline begins.

Have you, dear Anna Pavlovna, never thought about that?

I never had time for that.

Would you like some tea?

Please — real Russian tea, I brewed it myself.

Thank you.

Help yourself.

Anna Pavlovna.

Dear Anna Pavlovna.

Do you not notice the passage of time?

There are now two Pavlovas.

One real, one a legend.

I would gladly destroy the real Pavlova to preserve the one from before —

the one who drove us mad.

Anna Pavlovna, you're constantly rushing off somewhere —

now in the sands of Africa,

now on some remote island in Sweden.

I understand, but protect yourself —

remain an untouchable goddess of dance.

You must not be touched by a crowd of philistines

who understand nothing of ballet's subtleties.

You are one of a kind.

Remain so.

Madame!

Please, teach us how to do fouettés!

Teach us to do fouettés!

Girls, back — quickly!

You're disrupting the rehearsal, girls!

Madame!

Can you hear me?

Madame, forgive us.

A newspaper wrote that you only teach us what you can do yourself —

that you...

that you've nearly lost your technical command of dance!

I was ashamed and grieved to read and hear that.

But they kept shoving that newspaper in my face.

Show us the fouetté.

Quiet, quiet!

I beg you, girls, do you hear me?

Calm down!

Madame, I can't do anything with them.

These children are absolutely impossible.

Please.

Now, dear girls, this is not ballet.

This is technique. But ballet...

Ballet is not the legs.

It is the soul.

Girls, that's enough — you've seen it.

Off to rehearsal, come on, come on.

Seryozha, I...

I received a letter from Leningrad.

How lovely.

From whom?

There...

The signatures of the principal...

...artists...

...of our theater.

They're calling me...

...back.

Oh, how agitated madame is!

Oh, how she's agitated!

Yes.

Cards can earn you a fortune.

Dancing — never!

Gaga's coming soon.

Win quickly.

Gentlemen, I've won!

I won four francs for the first time in my life!

Ten francs!

Can you imagine?!

Sasha!

Sasha, I won — can you believe it?!

Sasha?!

I must make a wish right now.

In a year I will perform on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.

God help me.

Bravo.

Bravo, madame!

Bravo!

Hold on!

Stop!

Stop, I tell you!

Can't you see?

Excuse me.

Hey!

What's going on?

What happened?

Girls!

Girls, Anna, be careful — the rocks here are very sharp.

Please, watch your step.

Well, how about that.

What luck we've had.

We can't go any further.

The road's washed out.

Lord, nothing is

clear at all.

There's a village nearby.

We can spend the night there.

I'll show you the way.

We'll go on foot. Come on.

Let's go.

Let's go, quickly.

Everyone, follow me.

Afraid of a little water?

Everyone, follow me!

It's just rain.

Straight ahead!

Straight ahead!

Are you feeling better?

I'm better.

You can see for yourself.

What's your temperature?

It's too early to tell.

Let me have a look.

No, it's still too early.

Did you take your medicine?

Good.

What time is it?

Half past one.

Lie down.

Please, leave me.

All right.

Go — I need to get dressed.

I'm going.

I'm going.

Her Majesty the Queen

has sent her personal physician, Dr. Clauson.

Yes.

She asks you to receive him.

Yes.

The thermometer.

Go away.

Anna.

Go away.

Give me the thermometer.

My temperature is normal.

Anna.

Why are you doing this?

Go away.

Go away.

Madame Pavlova refuses the operation.

But you're her husband, you must

Persuade her...

I've always deferred to my wife in everything.

Mr. Dandré, the situation is serious.

You must understand that.

I've done everything in my power.

After the operation, she will never dance again.

And she knows that.

Mr. Dandré.

She will die.

Allow me, I

will speak with your wife.

Anna!

Victor, I...

Anna, what are you doing?

This is madness!

The performance...

It's too early!

I'll be late.

You can't do this.

Are you feeling better?

Yes. How much time until the performance?

It's three o'clock — plenty of time.

Try to sleep.

Wake me in an hour?

I promise.

Sleep.

When will the car arrive?

The car will be here at six.

Have it come at five.

All right, it'll come at five.

Here, drink this.

Sleep.

Sleep.

Misha...

It can't be.

You?

I'm so glad to see you.

So am I.

This is so unexpected.

For me as well.

How wonderful.

Thank you.

But your car is waiting.

Yes, I must hurry.

Forgive me.

Oh, come on, Anya.

I'm afraid I'll be late.

I understand.

Forgive me.

It's all right.

We have all the time in the world.

We'll still do such great things together.

Goodbye.

Go on, go.

Go.

Until tonight, Misha.

They all...

They all came to see my performance.

How lovely.

Prepare it.

Prepare my costume.

The Swan.