Etoile (film)

Etoile (transl. Star) is a 1989 Italian film directed by Peter Del Monte and starring Jennifer Connelly, Laurent Terzieff, Charles Durning, Olimpia Carlisi, Mario Marozzi, Donald Hodson and Gary McCleery.

The title refers to the French term for the highest ranking principal dancer in a ballet company, similar to a prima ballerina. What follows is a loose retelling of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, in which a young American ballerina travels to Hungary in the hopes of joining a prestigious ballet academy, only to fall under the ghostly and sinister influence of its choreographer and director. The film was distributed by Aristi Associati and premiered on March 17 1989, with a limited release outside of Italy. It was awarded The Critic's Award at the 1990 Fantasporto Film Festival in Portugal and was poorly received by Italian critics.