Alexei Temnikov was a famous and celebrated dancer at the top of the profession. Some years back, a stage accident (whose circumstances and causes are initially unclear) ended his career. He now resides in his remote hometown of Klim. He makes an ample living from running a dance school and from some clever investments. His lifestyle includes a spectacular flat and a shiny black Ferrari that he drives a few meters from home to school, perhaps to remind the townspeople of the genius in their midst.
Twenty years later he is advised by his physician that a sequel to the accident will leave him paralyzed in a few months. After assimilating the news, Temnikov has a grand finale in mind; a ballet based on Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements. The rest of the movie deals with his efforts to mount the ballet first in Moscow's Bolshoi Theater, then in the Mariinsky Theater in Sankt Petersburg. From there on, the plot runs into a denouement not very different from what we have seen in several variations in dozens of Artistic Comeback/Terminal Disease movies.
Temnikov is loaded with negative qualities. He is arrogant, caustic and monstrously egotistic. He just has been advised that he has a 12 year old daughter. A DNA test, to his chagrin, confirms paternity and he must take care of her (which he abhors, although there seem to be some positive feelings between the two). He is waiting without interest for a new hindrance, the birth of another offspring from another lover. He flaunts his failings in such a frank and brazen way that he acquires a sort of perverse charisma. And, the ending is probably intended as parody as given away by one of Temnikov's lines: "Tell me, what would happen now in a bad American movie?"
I don't know if this film achieves its objectives (or even what the objectives are), but it is easy viewing. Music by the Masters (both ballet and concert), We get views of the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky (exteriors and interiors) and we see Valery Gergiev, Director of of the Mariinsky playing himself briefly. And, we also get a glimpse of the workings and intrigues in the highest level of artistic achievement. I had a good time watching.
