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The theatre of sport is given full-blown operatic treatment in this National Film Unit classic. Footage from the French 1979 rugby tour of New Zealand is rendered in slow-motion and cut to a Tchaikovsky score. The result is an often glorious, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, paean to rugby. Balletic lineouts, driving tackles, and the dark mysteries of the ruck, make for a ballsy Swan Lake in the mud. It includes the Bastille Day French victory over the All Blacks. Directed by NFU stalwart Arthur Everard, it won a jury prize at the Montreal World Film Festival.
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i loved all those tight bottoms and meaty thighs.. pure ballet. Did I detect a forward pass n the first minutes?
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An All Blacks tour of Wales and Ireland in 1989
1980 Montreal World Film Festival
Jury Prize
1980 International Sports Film Festival
Grand Prize
Finalist - Most
Outstanding Website
The ONYAs 2010 & 2011
Best Entertainment Website
Finalist – Website design
Qantas Media Awards 2009
NZ ON SCREEN 2012
This website has been made with funding from NZ ON AIR ›
The synopsis and credits are included
Jos Maessen
Posted at 07.01AM - 03.07.2011
Glad to see this movie 25 years later again. First viewed on a
rugbycourse in the Netherlands.