Giselle

Giselle is a feature film in collaboration with the Royal New Zealand Ballet and acclaimed director Toa Fraser (No. 2, Dean Spanley). First performed in Paris in 1841, and based on a poem by Heinrich Heine, Giselle tells the age-old story of two star-crossed lovers; Giselle, a delicate village beauty who loves to dance and a prince, disguised as a commoner, is entranced and woos her away from her devoted suitor. They fall in love, but before he has the chance to disentangle himself from an inconvenient betrothal, his lie is revealed. Audiences will quickly recognise that Giselle as an exceptionally powerful film. Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg's staging and choreography are a sight to behold and the peerless set of dancers, principally, Prima Ballerina Gillian Murphy as Giselle and Qi Huan as Albrecht, create magic through their telling of the story. The filming of Giselle began in October/November 2012 in the lead up to the ballet's seven-centre New Zealand tour and three-week tour of China. Featuring a score by the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra, the film departs occasionally from the hauntingly evocative stage settings and places the lovers within a real-world frame in New York & Shanghai. (Rialto Distribution)