Amazon.com: When Cirque du Soleil first ventured beyond Canada's borders, its powerful, singularly ambitious "reinvention of the circus" seemed quixotic. Inspired by European precedents, this was a big top downsized to a more intimate, single ring, as the French-Canadian troupe jettisoned animals, banished the usual fright-wigged clowns in favor of funny folks versed in (gulp) pantomime, and focused on acrobats, contortionists, and illusionists. Conventional wisdom would have held that such esoterica was doomed, but anyone lucky enough to catch that initial Cirque production (or, for that matter, any of its subsequent offerings) knows just how wrong conventional wisdom can be.
Cirque's creative brain trust, including "guide" Guy Laliberte and director Franco Dragone, have crafted each production as an extended performance piece framed by recurrent characters, unified production design, and underlying themes. Already mesmerizing visual tableaux and astonishing illusions are given an added poignancy (and, occasionally, true gravity) by the productions' underlying comments about society, conformity, beauty, and emotion; even without such conscious motifs, however, Cirque's sheer artistry is never less than riveting.
Quidam revolves around an Everychild, living with self-absorbed (and deliberately archetypal) parents, who's whisked away to a vividly surreal world where Cirque's remarkable acrobats and artists take literal flight. Their tools are often prosaic--oversized flying rings, an open steel wheel large enough for a single inhabitant, skateboards, ropes--yet the resulting images are stunning. Injecting further drama and atmosphere is the score (here by musical director Benoit Jutras), which is as far removed from traditional circus music as Cirque's "acts" are from Barnum & Bailey. Performed with synthesizers, electric guitar, solo reed instruments, percussion, and voice (often singing in a kind of Esperanto that's tantalizing yet foreign), Cirque's music can be dismissed as New Age only until heard in its intended context.
Like three earlier video productions, Quidam can't quite achieve the sheer, enveloping wonder that its theatrical source does. But for fans of Cirque du Soleil's unique performance art, this latest presentation sustains the troupe's magic. --Sam Sutherland
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - I'm still not sure if I like it or not
This Cirque de Soleil is very different from any other I've seen. It is very dark. The costumes are gothic, the music is beautiful, but sad, and the acts, while fantastic, are done with no smiles or enthusiasm. The theme is to explore our society's isolationalism, and while that is an interesting theme, it makes for a depressing circus show. There are, as always, some amazing acts, but they are done in this dark, depressing way. My son liked it, but I liked the other shows much better.
Rating: - Fairly entertaining, but not a rush...
I'm a great fan of CdS, and most of their DVDs are outstanding. But IMHO Quidam rates 4/10. Any other CdS DVD I've ever watched, any other, is substantially better, some are 10/10. But this isn't their best production by any stretch, again, IMHO. Smoke it if you've got it but don't go out of your way for this installment.
Rating: - Excellent DVD, as expected!
This is the one and only Cirque du Soleil video I've seen, and it was as good as I expected, excellent by my standards. It is a really beautiful show and well worth the money and time to watch.
I'm not at expert at Cirque du Soleil videos, so I have nothing to compare it against, but as a total noob and Cirque fan I CAN say that if they are all of this quality I'll eventually watch them all.
BUY IT!
Enjoy!
Rating: - Quidam is great!
This is a great show. i love the Cirque and specially the performances on this show, the statue performance is breath taking!!
Rating: - Cirque du Soleil
I saw this show in Las Vegas years ago. Loved it then and love this DVD version.
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