The boundary-pushing Ida Rubinstein selects Maurice Ravel to compose the music for her next ballet, leading to the creation of his greatest and most timeless success ever - Boléro. Closed the 2024 Chichester International Film Festival.
In the two decades between the First and Second World War, Maurice Ravel (Raphaël Personnaz) was feted as France’s greatest living composer. His work melded modernism, baroque and neoclassicism, with later compositions also embracing jazz.
Ravel is best known for his 1928 composition Boléro, whose conception lies at the heart of Anne Fontaine’s elegant film. It weaves Ravel’s working process and life through his encounters with three women: the Russian dancer Ida Rubinstein (Jeanne Balibar), whose commission led to the music’s creation; his patron Misia Sert (Doria Tillier), and his pianist friend Marguerite Long (Emmanuelle Devos).
