What is about:
„Birds of Paradise” is a wonderful drama involving lesbian content and two amazing characters: Marine and Kate.
Marine and Kate are two ballet dancers at an elite ballet academy in Paris who compete for a contract to join the highly acclaimed Paris Opera Balled academy.
This movie piqued my interest because I associated it with Black Swan.
It sure is an enemies to friends/lovers themed movie.
Kate and Martine literally start out punching each other, and insulting each other. Then, during a nightclub dance-off, they begin to develop some grudging respect, a close friendship, then more. They promise to give each other nothing but friendship and support, thinking they can both win. It is not that easy.
The entire movie leads up to the day of the competition, with the assumption that the dancers will perform in pairs.
The ending left me breathless, yet it is somehow expected and it’s not necessarly happy.
There are some great visual scenes in this movie.
The movie is adapted from the novel “Bright Burning Stars” written by A.K. Small
The Characters:
Kate Sanders (Diana Silvers) and Marine Durand (Kristine Froseth) are the two balled dancers who aim for a place at one of the best ballet academy in the world.
In such a vicious competitions the conditions are dramatic.
For example, on the first day, they get into a fistfight due to Kate’s insensitive comment about Marine’s twin brother’s (Ollie) suicide.
They both are hailing from different backgrounds.
Kate comes from a modest background and is there on scholarship (set up by the Durand family in Ollie’s name), having won every dance competition back home in America.
Marine, on the other hand, is the wealthy daughter of the American ambassador to France and takes everything for granted, and despises Kate from the beginning.
The two soon find each other pushed together as roommates and are forced to reconcile. They move back and forth from being close confidantes to bitter rivals as one question remains—who will win the grand prize?
After their initial tiff, Kate and Marine become close confidants who even make a pact similar to Marine and Ollie’s (to win the prize together or not at all).
Loved the main characters, who played their parts just as they are as humans, flawed.
I loved Jaqueline Bisset’s role in the movie, awesome performance.
Where to watch it:
The movie can be seen on Amazon Prime.
Trailer:
Sources :
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/birds-of-paradise-movie-review-2021
https://screenrant.com/birds-paradise-ending-explained-kate-sanders-marine-durand-real-winer/
https://http://www.theenvoyweb.com
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