Cirque du Soleil: Varekai

2003

Family / Fantasy / Music

2
IMDb Rating 7.9/10 10 571 571

circus acrobatics

Plot summary

Icarus is the main character of Varekai, who falls to the ground, breaking his legs as he does. He is suddenly in a strange, new world full of creatures he has never seen before. Parachuted into the shadows of a magical forest, a kaleidoscopic world populated by fantastical creatures, this young man sets off on an adventure both absurd and extraordinary.

Director

Top cast

Sergiy Bobrovnik Photo
Sergiy Bobrovnik as Self - Russian Swings
Kevin Atherton Laprise Photo
Kevin Atherton Laprise as Self - Aerial Straps
Olga Pikhienko Photo
Olga Pikhienko as Self - Contortionist (Handbalancing)
Andrew Atherton Photo
Andrew Atherton as Self - Aerial Straps
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1.02 GB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
25 fps
1 hr 53 min
Seeds 19
1.88 GB
1920*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
25 fps
1 hr 53 min
Seeds 48

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by 7 / 10

Amazing acrobatics & costumes, spoiled by the clowns

My wife and I went to a matinée performance of Cirque du Soleil's "Varekai" in the Nottingham Motorpoint Arena. As you would expect, most of the acrobatics were absolutely amazing, as were the costumes. Like other Cirque du Soleil shows, there was some sort of story but with most of the language being their traditional invented one that no one understands, this was not clear. But this didn't really matter. The music and vocals (even though I didn't understand them) were also very good. Regrettably, the circus tradition of using clowns was taken much too far, with about a quarter of the show dedicated to them. Their slap-stick antics were often bizarre or amateurish and at times downright irritating. They may have been entertaining a few decades ago but frankly fell flat and in some cases were risqué and unsuitable for the young children in the audience. So for us, this ruined what would otherwise have been an impressive and entertaining experience. Time for a re-think, SdS?
Reviewed by 9 / 10

As good as a circus gets

This isn't the first circus with a story I've seen, but its the best. No animal acts, clowns in minicars or individual stand alone performances, this sort of circus is highly stylized with a usually vague story, singing and music to blend one act after another.Some of the performers come from long lines of family acts, but there's also a fair number of Olympic caliber athletes looking to work their talent outside of competition. The acts are not all great, but are at least good and a few are exceptional. I thought it was pretty amazing that they are all done flawlessly in front of a live audience: Not one dropped prop, clumsy trip, dorky fall or wardrobe malfunction.I'm not often drawn to the artsy/pouffy sort of humor. It tends to be too French for me, and it just doesn't appeal. Not all things French, just their humor. Any sound effects resembling gastrointestinal activity are apparently the ultimate comedy. The least appealing parts of Varekai involved that same French humor, and knocks the score down a little. I enjoyed the other comic acts in the show, whether they were French or not.You can't beat a live circus show, but there are some advantages with watching this one on a widescreen. It was shot in HD format so it naturally takes in wider shots, and there's many angle shots, overheads and closeups that the live audience would never see. Colors are almost oversaturated but thats because so much of the circus is in bright primary colors. Varekai even has a DTS soundtrack and employs all the 5.1 system to good effect. The 2nd disc has some bio info on the performers and a short on getting selected and training for a live performance. The DVD set comes in a foldout box within a box, and gets an 8/10.
Reviewed by 8 / 10

Varekai Replaces Lead Character: Anton Is Icarius No More!

The DVD is based upon the live act, which is constantly on tour. Because of that the DVD will always be great. Unfortunately, the live show took a turn for the worse today. I just saw the last show in Seattle, and tomorrow they head for Vancouver, B.C.Normally I love the Cirque, but today they made a big mistake. They have replaced their lead character Icarius, previously played by Anton Tchelnokov. I don't know yet if they have found a permanent replacement, but I do hope that it will not be the guy that they had as a stand-in for Anton today. He is dismally lacking the graceful naiveté that made Anton so believable as Icarius.The show is still an awesome experience... especially Kevin and Andrew Atherton's strap act, and the big finale with all of those incredible athletes performing on the Russian Swings. But for anyone who has seen Anton as the original Icarius, any show in the future will always be lacking something: a Russian kid named Anton who was born to play that role.Kevin L ([email protected])
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