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Product Description
Oscar-nominated drama starring Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft. As young dancers, they were best friends and fierce rivals. Deedee (MacLaine) left the stage for marriage and motherhood while Emma (Bancroft) would become an international ballet icon. When Deedee's teenage daughter (Leslie Browne) is invited to join Emma's dance company and begins an affair with a young Russian star (Mikhail Baryshnikov), the two women are forced to confront the choices they've made, the resentments they've hidden and the emotional truths they must face.
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: One of a cycle of '70s post-Women's Liberation "women's pictures," Herbert Ross's drama uses the ballet world to examine the conflict between family and career. Former dance colleagues Deedee (Shirley MacLaine) and Emma (Anne Bancroft) are reunited when Emma's New York ballet company stops in Oklahoma City for a performance. Having dropped her career for marriage and motherhood, Deedee envies prima ballerina Emma's limelight life; aging Emma, realizing that her days as a star are numbered, wishes that she had the fulfillment of a family like Deedee's. Tensions simmer when Deedee's talented teenage daughter, Emilia (Leslie Browne), moves to New York to join Emma's company. As Emma maternally bonds with Emilia, and Emilia falls in love with womanizing dancer Yuri (Mikhail Baryshnikov), Deedee feels that she's losing her place even as a mother. After Emilia's triumphant debut, Deedee's and Emma's resentments boil over into an all-out catfight that ends when they realize they can unite in happiness for Emilia's future. Splitting the desires to nest and to work between two characters, Ross and writer Arthur Laurents reveal the difficulty faced by women in a world of expanding options. As in Michael Powell's and Emeric Pressburger's seminal ballet film The Red Shoes (1948), dancing and a personal life don't mix, even as the films display ballet's seductive power here in the gracefully integrated numbers by dance stars Browne and Baryshnikov. Despite reservations about its melodramatic aspects, The Turning Point earned box-office success and eleven Oscar nominations (but no wins). Even if its wife/work struggle seems a bit old-fashioned, Deedee's and Emma's final bond suggests that the nex...The Turning Point
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By babyday
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
i was very happy to finally get this movie as it doesnt seem to be available in any shops! i have to admit that the only reason it was of interest was because of shirley maclaine,not for the dance aspect.while i did enjoy the film i found it to be rather long & very ballet focused which is to be expected seeing as that is the basis of the movie!other than that i think it would be an enjoyable film for any shirley or anne bancroft fans & anyone interested in dance!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
A fun view of the ballet world-the story is secondary to the valuable footage of stars past doing their party pieces!Valuable to have Antoinette Sibley's only acting role as far as I am aware.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A.P
Format:DVD
This is a lovely ballet film, where you can see how the "inworld" of this activity works, and the competitiveness that exists in it.
The main actress acts pretty awfully from my point of view, but dances peacefully and nice, the we have marvellous Baryshnikov who never disappoints. This is one of his first moves if not the first. In all its a nice film to watch, and to inspire you.
The main actress acts pretty awfully from my point of view, but dances peacefully and nice, the we have marvellous Baryshnikov who never disappoints. This is one of his first moves if not the first. In all its a nice film to watch, and to inspire you.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By D. Quintas
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Was not an easy film to get into at the start, took a little to unfold it. However it does have a message and was worth the viewing. A story of misunderstanding, hopes, dreams, obsession, lack of communication.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Subie Doo
Format:DVD
I saw this many years ago and always watched it every time it came on television. Now I want to help inspire a love of ballet in my daughter this is the perfect film. I also noted things on the reviews of this DVD that I had forgotten: like that Shirley Maclaine was in it - she and Ann Bancroft give very good performances, but the real star is the dancing and I've never forgotten Leslie Browne's joyful dancing to Chopin (I think tho' it may be Liszt) at the end.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Years after she quit the ballet to marry and raise a family, Deedee (Shirley MacLaine) is reunited with her her old company and old friend/ rival Emma (Anne Bancroft). Deedee always wondered if settling down was the right decision and now that her daughter is a ballerina, the old doubts flood back.
If you love ballet, this is the movie for you and if you don't love it, maybe you will after watching it. The dance scenes are simply magnificent; Leslie Browne, who plays Deedee's daughter, is a lovely dancer (though not a strong actress) and she is paired with the stunning Mikhail Baryshnikov who is charisma personified. MacLaine and Bancroft are old pros and play well off each other. The regal Bancroft doesn't actually dance but looks like a dancer and always owns the screen. MacLaine's character is whiny and at first doesn't appreciate how good her life is. The two ladies are well-matched and fun to watch; all four lead actors received Oscar nods (and the movie was nominated 11 times in total).
This is a movie that will surely inspire many little ballerinas. The mix of classical ballet and sudsy soap opera is a good one. Recommended.
If you love ballet, this is the movie for you and if you don't love it, maybe you will after watching it. The dance scenes are simply magnificent; Leslie Browne, who plays Deedee's daughter, is a lovely dancer (though not a strong actress) and she is paired with the stunning Mikhail Baryshnikov who is charisma personified. MacLaine and Bancroft are old pros and play well off each other. The regal Bancroft doesn't actually dance but looks like a dancer and always owns the screen. MacLaine's character is whiny and at first doesn't appreciate how good her life is. The two ladies are well-matched and fun to watch; all four lead actors received Oscar nods (and the movie was nominated 11 times in total).
This is a movie that will surely inspire many little ballerinas. The mix of classical ballet and sudsy soap opera is a good one. Recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By J. Scott-mandeville
VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
For anyone loving dance, ballet in particular, this film is a pleasurable experience and the story of rivalries within the ballet world provide a storybook backdrop to a film full of wonderful examples of great ballet dancing.
Anne Bancroft and Shirley Maclaine, stalwarts of the film acting world, add vigour and depth to what is, essentially, a family film for matinee viewing. Bancroft plays the fading, but still dedicated, ballerina who has given up everything, especially family and children, for The Dance. Maclaine is her opposite who did give up her dancing for her family. But her daughter, played with exquisite loveliness by Lesley Browne of the American Ballet Theatre, is to prove that her sacrifice was not in vain.
Mikhail Baryshnikov in his film debut enhances the film to heights of wonder with his magnificent dancing and he proves he can act a little in his delightful scenes with the ingenue but ambitious young fledgling dancer.
The best parts of the film are, obviously, the fabulous dancing, the best of which is the pas de deux from Don Quixote with Baryshnikov's leaps simply stunning.
Recommended for both Maclaine and Bancroft in fine style and for Baryshnikov's and Browne's beautiful dancing.
Anne Bancroft and Shirley Maclaine, stalwarts of the film acting world, add vigour and depth to what is, essentially, a family film for matinee viewing. Bancroft plays the fading, but still dedicated, ballerina who has given up everything, especially family and children, for The Dance. Maclaine is her opposite who did give up her dancing for her family. But her daughter, played with exquisite loveliness by Lesley Browne of the American Ballet Theatre, is to prove that her sacrifice was not in vain.
Mikhail Baryshnikov in his film debut enhances the film to heights of wonder with his magnificent dancing and he proves he can act a little in his delightful scenes with the ingenue but ambitious young fledgling dancer.
The best parts of the film are, obviously, the fabulous dancing, the best of which is the pas de deux from Don Quixote with Baryshnikov's leaps simply stunning.
Recommended for both Maclaine and Bancroft in fine style and for Baryshnikov's and Browne's beautiful dancing.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I bought this film partly because of the story and title, which aroused my curiosity, partly because I wanted to see Mihail Baryshnikov in it. However, Anne Browns performance was a very pleasant surprise - in fact quite stunning, primarily as a dancer,but good and believable acting too. Anne Bancroft especially and and Shirley MacLaine were good too, but then one expects them to be, so this was less surprising.
A very satisfactory film, which I have seen several times. I even bought a second copy as agift to a good friend.
Heartily recommended.
A very satisfactory film, which I have seen several times. I even bought a second copy as agift to a good friend.
Heartily recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
An old favourite
I had a crush on Baryshnikov back in the day, and it was very nice to see how right I was! All the dancing is wonderful. A good copy which came promptly.
Published 20 days ago by Mrs. C. M. Velarde
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Turning Point
Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft in a ballet story. The 'ballet' part may put one off (or not), but this is mostly about
the angst that comes between friends who take... Read more
the angst that comes between friends who take... Read more
Published 6 months ago by JSB
3.0 out of 5 stars
There are better ballet films
Enjoyable, but Baryshnikov is somehow embarrassing, Leslie Browne and/or her character is a drip, and it could have done with more ballet and less arched-eyebrow angst from the... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Cherry Radford
5.0 out of 5 stars
Turning Point
A very enjoyable movie, for people who are really "into" ballet this is a must as there is some wonderful dancing, although the acting is a a bit dry at times. Read more
Published on 15 April 2011 by Gwen
1.0 out of 5 stars
Worst Script Ever
First of all a caveat. I only got as far as about half way through then gave up in disgust. Compared to White Nights (a great film), the Turning Point is DIRE. Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2011 by RMPilkington
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