Cirque du Soleil - Dralion
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Canada
Movie Reviews of Cirque du Soleil - Dralion
Movie Review: High energy crowd pleaser that stays true to CdS tradition
Summary: 5 Stars
Cirque du Soleil is a uniquely Québécois experience. What started out as a few friends performing together in summer festivals blossomed into an international corporation synonymous with imagination, feats to dazzle the senses, music to astound the ears and costumes to dazzle the eyes. Cirque's motto is "Invoquer l'imaginaire, provoquer les sens, évoquer l'émotion," or "invoke the imagination, provoke the senses, evoke the emotions," and Dralion delivers on all these counts.Dralion is CdS's twelveth production and is a blend of East and West. The majority of the cast is Chinese, and the acts incorporate traditional Chinese circus acts with Cirque favourites. The costumes range from African to Indian to Chinese, and the lead singers Érik Karol and Agnes Sohier represent a godlike figure, l'Âme Force, and as such they have the most extravagant costumes.
Originally Érik did all of the singing in Dralion but Agnes was added as the tour progressed. Érik has since left Dralion and has been replaced by Frank Irving. The role of l'Âme Force was created around Érik's unique countertenor voice, which is put to stunning effect in songs such as "Stella Errans," and "Hinko" where he switches from head to chest voice at the drop of a hat.
"Ballare" is a beautiful slow ballad/duet that accompanies one of the most stunning acts in Dralion: an aerial pas de deux in which the two performers are suspended from the ceiling by only a length of blue silk which they wrap around themselves. The Dralion soundtrack is also available for purchase (it is my favourite CdS soundtrack ever!) and recently won two awards from Billboard for being a top World Music album for 2001.
All of the acts are sure to keep you entertained, and the bright colours and silly dralions keep kids' attentions as well. And yes, there are clowns. A new breed of clowns, evidently. In keeping with the Cirque tradition of "Reinventing the Circus" these clowns don't squeeze into cars. They don't wear flowers that squirt water. They do pick on audience members rather mercilessly at times, but it's part of the fun.
The behind-the-scenes documentary was excellent, with lots of rehearsal footage and interviews with the composer, producer, and many of the cast. And the alternate camera angles made the show interactive! Dralion won two Emmy Awards for best show, and it's easy to see why. A fascinating fusion of world cultures. If you can't make it to a Cirque du Soleil show live, this DVD is the next best thing!
Movie Review: SUPERB!! SUPERB!!...... WOW
Summary: 5 Stars
I am trying to find words that describe Cirque Du Soleil performances .... only one comes to mind ... superb. I have seen both resident shows in Las Vegas, and the resident show in Orlando. I have Saltimbanco on VHS, Quidam and Dralion on DVD. It is impossible for me to say that one of this magnificent performances is a favorite over the others...I refuse to do so. Each one of this shows is so amazingly unique and breath taking, it would be like comparing apples and oranges.
I saw Dralion live under the big top and once again was mesmerized by the outstanding show Cirque Du Soleil put together. It is a fantastic show. The customs are beautiful, the acts are amazing, the music is enchanting. I bought the Dralion DVD as soon as it was available for retail and was extremely pleased with all the features. It was worth every penny. It comes with a making of Dralion documentary which by the way was very interesting and informative. It also has different view angles you can choose.
The different view angles are not polished edited camera shots. In fact, they are unedited raw footage, and you can see shaky, wobbling movements by the performers, but I was very glad to see Cirque Du Soleil using the multiple angle feature. Even the big film companies don't do this. I have 90+ DVDs and Dralion is the only one in the pile with multiple angles.
I have read other reviews complaining of poor filming (i.e.. choppy video, short camera shots, narrow angels, etc., etc.). I would slightly agree, but we must keep in mind that during the show not everything is happening at the camera points. There is so much more going on all over the stage and everything is related to the story theme. I would hate to be the editor of a film like this.
Even though Cirque Du soleil is not a film company, they have outdone themselves once again. I highly recommend this DVD and anything else that is Cirque Du Soleil. It is clean good fun for the whole family. You will be dazzled and mesmerized, and will never be disappointed by this folks. I recommend even more that you see the shows live every chance you get in order to get the full effect. Even though I have already seen Quidam on DVD, I am flying to Zurich in the fall to experience the grandeur of the live show....
Movie Review: The DVD is way better than the LIVE show!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love the DVD, but when I saw Dralion LIVE, I was disappointed. The hilarious woman and man "nurd-clowns" that appear in several segments in the DVD were not in the live show. Also, the music was WAY too loud --to the point of distortion. And the entire dual-trapeze act was missing! For $74.40 per seat, I wanted the perfection I saw on the DVD!As for the editing of the DVD... it's GREAT!! When they cut away to show some other interesting shot, they always come back quick enough so that I didn't feel I missed anything, but got the additional benefit of the other shots. That was in fact one of the things I missed in the live show! On the DVD, we get to see a close up of the hand-balancing girls face from floor view. And close-ups of all the other performers as well, interspersed with the wide-angle views. Essentially, every second of the DVD is an artisitic feast for the eyes, such as the arial view of the giant flag routine. At the live show I was limited to the solitary perspective of my 9th row center seat. So I think that a live version can never really compare with the DVD!
Each Cirque member puts their heart and soul into every performace, and I even felt a real human connection -- perhaps you could call it love -- from everyone I came in contact with, from the ticket seller to the man who sold me my Odwalla juice at intermmission. But, back to my DVD review...
I really enjoyed the "Making of Dralion" footage on the DVD. It made me appreciate all the work that goes into a show like this, especially when under a tight deadline. The music is captured beautifully, and unlike the live show, with the DVD you can set the volume to your liking! I really like the singing.
Dralion is not as good as Quidam, but it's better than any of the other Cirque DVDs I've seen. And the music really grows on you. I've taped the music from both Quidam and Dralion, and I enjoy listening to both. Even the music alone is a tranformational experience for me. The Dralion DVD should be a part of any Cirque fan's collection.
Movie Review: Totally Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw Dralion live in Minneapolis two years ago and can say that having this disk is as good as having a front row ticket. I can say that because when I was there, my seat was front row, in the center. I put off buying this DVD for a long time because I thought that there would inevitably be differences compared to the live show. Well, I was right. There's some stuff in the live show that you don't get on this disk. Such as the pre-show clown stuff (anyone who saw the live show will know what I'm talking about). However, the disk has some actual benefits over seeing the show live. For one thing, the sound quality on the disk makes the magnificent musical soundtrack much easier to hear, and you can turn the volume up as loud as you want. You also might get to see an act that wasn't playing when/if you saw it live (the foot juggling act, for example, was replaced with a different act when I was there). And of course, you can play it over and over. There's also the multi-angle feature for some of the acts--this is the first DVD I've seen that utilizes this feature.All in all, I'd say that this is the coolest DVD in my collection. I like it even better than the Quidam DVD. I watched it three times when I first got it, and quite frankly, I'd rather be watching it right now than sitting here at this desk writing this review. :-) And, if you haven't had the chance to see Dralion live, owning this DVD is just about as good, especially when you compare the cost of this DVD to the price of a ticket (of course, you really should also see the show live if you get the chance--it's an experience you'll never forget).
Movie Review: C'est formidable!
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, these Canadian guys have gone a long way since their steet performances.This is the first show I saw of them, and of course I was shocked by the artistic twists a human body can make, this people don't limit themselves to perform acrobatic routines, they act, they are imbedded into their characters, and let them flow through them. But that's not even half of the show.
Besides excellent acting, one is served great live music -these guys are one of the greatest jazz players I've heard. Their music is not only to fill the holes, but to create and change the various moods one has to go through in order to fully log in the history. Excellent microphone editing also! And those singers! the strangely defined tone of the lead singer, made me think of Farinelli, with a very, but very wide dynamic range! Awesome indeed.
I thought that for being the first show I saw, it would be the one to impress me the most, boy, was I wrong... I had the chance to see Alegria live, and savour also the not-seen-on-screen flawless logistics of the crew, and then I got the DVD on Saltimbanco, Quidam, and many more... but these are other stories, later to be told.
So, what are you doing reading other people's opinion? If you have not seen it yet, get up that chair and go for it! You will regret not doing so.