Fifth Day of Holiday Movies

On the fifth day of Christmas, the holiday movie recommendation I present to you…

Is… George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker (1993).  This film is a bit different than all of the others on the list.  This is a film presentation of the classic Christmas ballet.  The ballet begins with an amazing Christmas Eve party with family and friends.  Among the guests is Herr Drosselmeier, an unusual man with a very special gift of a Nutcracker doll for the young heroine of our ballet, Marie (or Clara depending on the version).  After all the guests have left and the house is dark and quiet, odd things begin to happen.  Marie finds herself in the middle of a battle between The Nutcracker and The Mouse King.  I won’t tell you how the battle ends but after the conclusion, Marie is transported on an adventure through the Land of Snow to the Land of Sweets where the Sugar Plum Fairy and her court entertain her.  As often is the case, adventures do come to an end and Marie returns home but is filled with the memories of her enchanted trip.

The ballet proceeds as typically seen on stage but an unseen narrator provides background and helps to move the story along.  It is precisely for this reason that I think it is a perfect way to introduce the ballet to new or younger viewers.  The ballet is part of my being.  It is the ballet that made me want to take dance class and I can remember being a young ballet student and auditioning for different roles.  I appeared in it only one year as one of the soldiers.   It was magically then and remains magical now.  I have seen more productions than should be legal.  Since I live close to NYC, I have been lucky enough to see George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker live on stage at Lincoln Center several times.  The film version comes close to capturing that magic for me.  The ability to watch closely as the dancers move and their facial expressions is beautiful and something you don’t get in a large theater.

And yes, that is THAT Macauley Culkin appearing as Dosselmeier’s nephew, the Nutcracker and the prince.

For a number of years, Ovation TV showed a number of different choreographers takes on the Nutcracker storyline, with different settings and stories but all with that unforgettable score.  They called it the “Battle of the Nutcrackers” and viewers could vote on their favorite to be reshown at Christmas.  Personally, I found many of the versions to be a bit too much of a departure from the original for my taste but it was amazing to see how it continues to inspire others to reimagine the story.  I am sorry that the tradition is no longer continued.  However, I did check and they have two versions playing at 7am on December 13th and 14th so set your DVR if you need more of a Nutcracker fix.

The perfect double-feature for me would be to follow this version with an earlier version from 1986.  The “Nutcracker” (1986) is a production by the Pacific Northwest Ballet with production design and costumes designed by Maurice Sendak (yep, that Maurice Sendak).  As you can imagine, the Sendak version is a bit darker but beautiful and still kid-friendly.