Patricia Foy's absorbing Rudolf Nureyev--A Documentary, a portrait of surely the most committed and versatile dancer in the history of ballet, was made in 1991, two years before his death. It is as much the study of a life apart as a profile of a tireless jet-setting artist. His career took him from poverty-stricken provincial childhood to life as a student at the Kirov, through defection to the West in 1961 and on to the great classical roles on the world's most famous stages, a sublime professional partnership with Margot Fonteyn and a fascinating evolution as a supreme exponent of modern dance. And through it all, Foy's film suggests that for all Nureyev's desire to be a member of the corps, he always felt isolated. The dancer himself concludes by saying he never felt a part of society.

This would be all too melancholy but for the rich cast of assembled contributors who shed light on his mercurial character and artistic intelligence, and the unexpected charm of a man often tagged "difficult" in the wretched tradition of show business cliché. Best of all, though, is the extended archive footage, which testifies to his extraordinarily athleticism and sheer grace. Never has the human form looked so fluid in motion. --Piers Ford