The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 21

THE BOSTON GLOBE FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 1981 21 Business 27 'Excalibur' a noble failure 'Cinderella' is silly, slow REVIEW DANCE REVIEW I MOVIE they don't but to provide interesting atlons for solo dancers. But Cunningham's four? fairies who are supposed to represent Summer. Autumn and Winter all perform sea-! sonless steps with no hint of individuality. In the ballroom scene there's a cliche-ridden mazurka, where dancers cross their arms ancL click their heels In cabrioles, and a waltz done in regulation cotillion style. The duet between; the Prince and Cinderella which should be the; ballet's linchpin consists mainly of classroom! combinations and meaningful glances by danc ers desperate for something to fill the music.

The last act, where Cinderella and the find each other for good. Is painfully slow, full of plodding processionals and devoid of passion, The Boston Ballet has performed "Cinder; ella" since 1976, and there are those who Have defended it as a good children's ballet. But re: moving the dance content from a ballet hardly makes it suitable for children. Interesting pro ductions of fairytale ballets like Balanchine'i "Coppelia" and the Boston Ballet's own recent "Swan Lake" can appeal to all ages because, there is richness in story, decor, and dancing -f something for everyone. But thinning out a pro duction to the extent of this "Cinderella," where) there must be fewer actual steps per minute than in any other ballet on the books, doesn't keep viewers of any age entertained.

"Cinderella" does make the Boston Ballet dancers look good, but the choreography is so easy that that's not saying much. Laura Young, in the title role, struggled valiantly but couldn't bring the part to life. Nicolas Pacana, as; the Prince, danced with an explosive energy, itnat made him look like an escapee from another ballet. Marie-Christine Mouis, as the Fairy Godmother, and Stephanie Moy. Katya Kolodzie, Anamarie Sarazin, and Carinne Binda, as the four seasonal fairies, looked as if they'd do well in the comparable roles In "Sleeping Beauty." Clay's Lancelot both look as if they were forged in a mannequin mold at Bloomlngdale's.

They are a couple of pretty faces who might please the readers of Playgirl, but their performances are weak and superficial. Both characters demand strength and determination two characteristics that both actors lack. The absence of a central dramatic concept robs "Excalibur" of the artistic thrust it desperately requires. From realistic battle scenes with blood spurting through punctured armor to an Idyllic love scene between Guenevere and Lancelot in a green glen, the film wobbles between "The Wild Bunch" and "The Blue Lagoon." Each part works as an-isolated set piece, but Boorman fails to weave them into a significant whole. It's odd that the director of "Deliverance" and "Point Blank," films characterized by strong, clean dramatic lines, would suffer from this esthetic meandering.

One of Boorman's primary talents is his unique ability to tell a straightforward story without sidetrips for symbolic excessiveness. In "Deliverance," a modern survival film about the tug between man's rational and irrational natures, Boorman keeps the story moving as swiftly as the waters of the Catahoochie river where it was filmed. In "Excalibur." Boorman seems obsessed by the sheer bulk of the 15th-century legend. It's as if he was a long-winded grandfather recording the story of his life for posterity. The historical details of the tale are fascinating but you soon grow tired of listening.

(See related story on Page 25) EXCALIBUR Produced and directed by John Boorman, screenplay by Ro-spo Pallenberg and John Boorman, adapted Jrom Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur" by Rospo Pallenberg, starring Nlcol Williamson, Nigel Terry and Helen Mirren. At the Sack 57 and suburbs. Rated R. By Michael Blowen Globe Staff Camelot, the kingdom where knighthood flowered, has fascinated dramatists, novelists, poets and moviemakers for generations. The Idyllic kingdom symbolizes the triumph of good over evil, truth over lies and courage over cowardice.

It represents the mastery of human laws over supernatural forces. It's a glorious myth that refuses to die. Walt Disney's "The Sword in the Stone" told the story of Arthur's youth; "The Knights of the Round Table" emphasized chivalry; "Camelot" gave the bold knights the old song and dance; and Eric Rohmer stylized the search for the Holy Grail in "Perceval." "Excalibur," John Boorman's ambitious, handsomely mounted view of King Arthur, is a visually stunning evocation of the story. The clash of sword and steel; the battle between magic and science; and the conflict between pagan gods and monotheism form the major touchstones of Boorman's vision. Although Boorman's drive to film the definitive version is as noble as Lancelot's defense of Guenevere's honor, it is, nevertheless, a failure.

THE BOSTON BALLET in "Cinderella," at the Metropolitan Center, last night. Choreography by Ron Cunningham, music by Prokofiev. Through Sunday. By Christine Temin Globe Correspondent Ron Cunningham's "Cinderella" is a silly ballet. This is not exactly a blanket condemnation, since this "Cinderella's" most fetching aspect the two ugly stepsisters played, as in Frederick Ashton's version, by men is also the silliest.

But while the stepsisters come by their silliness honestly they're supposed to be comic relief, after all the rest of the production doesn't. What should be a touching tale of virtue rewarded, with opportunities for lushly choreographed romantic duets to Prokofiev's hummable score, is instead vacuou3 and cute and sadly lacking in any meaty sections of. dance. We see Cinderella mooning around with a broom until we're all but convinced she's a halfwit. There's a slapstick vignette with a dignified Dancing Master (Arthur Leeth) and the stepsisters (Richard Dickinson and David Drummond) crashing into one another, but the humor is one-dimensional: these ugly siblings are blander types than Ashton's outrageously beribboned behemoths.

The stepmother Is a nervous harridan, but virtually the only real dance movement Cunningham gives her is a Rockette-like step-kick. The vocabulary of the fairies who attend the Fairy Godmother is distressingly similar a compendium of kicks and leaps and simple chaine turns. The real reason fairies exist in story ballets like "Cinderella" and "Sleeping Beauty" is not to further the plot Nigel Terry as King Arthur and Cherie Lunghi as Guenevere. Except for the magnificent production values and Nicol Williamson's curious, but inconsistent, portrayal of Merlin, "Excalibur" Is buried by its own ambition. It begins before Arthur's conception and doesn't end until Camelot is in a shambles.

It's a long, tiring trip through Middle Ages mythology enlivened only by Merlin's humorous asides, an energetic joust or two and a hint at how dreary the times really were. Nigel Terry's Arthur and Nicholas TONITEAT8PM SA.m.i A. Aft Ml at "Brass With FROMM MUSIC FOUNDATION at HARVARD Gusto" 8:00 PM IUM Iff A I a rre SUN. AT 3 A 7:30 PM BEST COMEDY OF THE YEAR! Boston Globe Reader's Poll ONE MC KINLEY SQUARE Ftei Drink An. Jazz COY SHOCKLEY ROOTS FII-SAT.

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