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Q & A: How Willimon Runs Fincher's 'House ...EXCLUSIVE: Paul Schrader Talks Biopic of Legendary Tiny Dancer Kschessinska
On a Skype call from New York, Schrader calls the prima ballerina assoluta Mathilde Kschessinska the "ultimate femme fatale." As the Russian Empire was imploding, the ballerina wreaked havoc inside the Royal family. Rising from poverty through the ballet world to a life of luxury, the ambitious and charismatic dancer was mistress to four aristocratic players in the crumbling Romanov dynasty, including Tsar Nicholas II.
"She was quite a notorious figure is pre-Soviet Russia," says Schrader. "She was the first local prima ballerina, and was also quite conniving. She had a son whose patronage has never been determined. She liked people to believe it was Nicholas's son. It was probably his cousin's son; at one point his uncle claimed him. In court life she was a player."
As for the Revolution, "Nicholas was a real fuck-up, not up to the task of surviving, and had bad judgement, took bad advice," says Schrader. "It was a bloody period. When the Bolsheviks came in they commandeered Kschessinska's house, those photos of Lenin were taken on her balcony. She had a great investment in the ancien regime. She was no lover of people's rights. She died at age 99."
Meanwhile Schrader is developing several other projects. He and Bret Easton Ellis are doing a DIY in July, getting money from Kickstarter. "The Canyon" is on Facebook, Kickstarter, and raised $70,000 the first week. "It's The Ed Burns model," Schrader says. "Everyone works for free, we're casting on Let It Cast, we've done 300 auditions and some screen tests, and will shoot four weeks in July."
2 Comments
Anne Thompson | May 21, 2012 3:44 AM
I've seen all but five. I need to catch up on Vidor, Rosi, Sokurov, Tarkovsky, Boetticher (I'd have put on "The Tall T.") Did you do the Sight and Sound List? I finally sent off a list, and forgot to include The General, which is usually my number one!
1. I Know Where I'm Going (Powell)
2. Lawrence of Arabia (Lean)
3. High and Low (Kurosawa)
4. Rio Grande (Ford)
5. The Lady Eve (Sturges)
6. Bringing Up Baby (Hawks)
7. The Apartment (Wilder)
8. The Wild Bunch (Peckinpah)
9. Meet Me in St. Louis (Minnelli)
10. A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick)
Sergio | May 20, 2012 7:53 PM
I've seen 50 out of the 60 films listed on Schrader's . Do I get the Silver prize?