The Nutcracker is as timeless as any great work of art. Originally conducted by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the music of The Nutcracker has become a staple of the Christmas season. Over the years, The ballet has gone through several changes and was retold by many different people. I’ll admit that as of this review I haven’t seen The Nutcracker in the way Tchaikovsky originally envisioned, for this review is going to be focused on the Geroge Balanchine version which was filmed at the New York City Ballet and put into movie form in 1993.
The story of The Nutcracker is separated into two acts in the spirit of the ballet with the addition of voice narration by Kevin Kline. During a big Christmas party, A little girl named Marie receives a nutcracker toy from her Godfather Drosselmeyer. Unfortunately, Marie’s younger brother Fritz steals the nutcracker out of her hands and ends up breaking it. A heartbroken Marie goes to sleep as she starts to dream about her nutcracker prince. Marie suddenly wakes up around midnight to find a battle between mice and life-sized tin soldiers with the nutcracker prince leading the tin soldiers.Marie faints and before she knows it, her bed starts to fly through the sky and lands in the snowy forest where the nutcracker prince takes her to the land of the sugarplum fairy. The Nutcracker prince tells his story to the sugarplum fairy and she decides to let the prince and Marie sit on a throne that has many sweet treats for them to enjoy. The dancers decide to honor them by dancing their best dances for their entertainment.
One of the most common complaints I see from other reviewers is that the narration is overused and takes out of the magical experience of the actual ballet. On the one hand, I can agree that sometimes the narration can overstay its welcome when it explains the obvious plot points that are already clear visually. At the same time, however, I found that the narration can add different things to the overall experience like the character’s names or certain plot elements told from a different point of view. Another complaint I hear from others is the addition of famed 90’s child actor Macaulay Culkin who is not that much ballet dancer himself. I understand the movie version needed some star power, but they honestly could have found an actual ballet kid dancer to fill in the part of the nutcracker prince. Still, he’s not all that distracting, and even though Macaulay himself is not a ballet dancer, he does manage to blend in with the rest of the dancing group.
The overall story itself is truly magical and transports you to a new world that is magical as it is wondrously crafted. The actual set designs are very well made and the dancing is top-notch for the most part. The costuming is stunning especially when we see the dancers from the sugar plum fairy’s world. I don’t think I need to say much about the music because it’s one of if not the most recognizable musical scores in history. The way the dancers work of the music is impressive footwork and it does feel like you are at the ballet and in the audience.
The filmed version of Geroge Balanchine’s The Nutcracker is a timeless tale filled with wonder and Christmas magic. Despite its somewhat overused narration and Macaulay Culkin being used for kinda unnecessary star power, this film manages to capture the same feelings for being at the real ballet. Sure, it probably would be better to see the nutcracker ballet on an actual stage, but for what we got, this movie version is sure to delight both the young and the old.
(Final Grade: B+)