“Birds of Paradise”
Movie traditions are broken in Amazon’s new queer ballet drama
By Helen Weil
Birds of Paradise, both the flower and the family of birds they get their names from, are known for being colorful and unique. Unlike any other bird, the birds are known for plumage, and the flowers don’t look like any other flower. "Birds of Paradise," a new movie released on Amazon on September 24th, is just like what it’s named after.
The movie stars Kate, played by Diana Silvers, who wins a scholarship to attend a prestigious ballet academy in Paris and compete with the other students for a prize: a contract with the coveted Opéra national de Paris. At first, the movie seems to be like every other ballet movie out there. The plot is similar to the Netflix series “Tiny Pretty Things,” which I had to look up to see if they were based on the same book. (They aren’t, “Tiny Pretty Things” is based on a novel of the same name by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton, while "Birds of Paradise" is based on “Bright Burning Stars” by A.K. Small.) Both of the projects could be summarized the same way: a new dancer, the underdog, feels out of place in a new dance academy where everyone is still reeling from an accident involving someone falling off a roof. The main character makes several faux pas on her first day and is singled out by the strict, mysterious woman who runs the place. She is visibly out of place and has to work twice as hard as the other dancers, but she makes up for what she lacks in experience with sheer talent and determination.
But there’s a line in "Birds of Paradise" that the writer and director, Sarah Adina Smith, seems to have taken to heart: “tradition is meant to be broken.” Just when the movie seems to be falling into all of the common ballet movie tropes, they begin to break away from them. We’re introduced to Kate’s biggest competition: the beautiful, talented, rich M, played by Kristine Frøseth. Kate and M should hate each other. And they do, at first. M’s brother Ollie died recently, and his open spot at the academy and the scholarship they set up in his honor both went to Kate. M resents her, and it gets even worse when they have to share a dorm room. And a bed.
Their first night together, M brings Kate to the Jungle Club, where they eat drugged worms and dance together in plague masks and “Euphoria”-level glitter. They enter as enemies and leave with mutual trust and a budding friendship. Despite everything trying to pit the two against each other, M stays genuine with Kate, and their friendship develops into something more. On the other hand, Kate gets swept up in the allure of winning, and over time, the protagonist becomes the antagonist. As the day of the competition drew closer, I found myself on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen.
“Birds of Paradise” discusses heavy topics such as fame, sexuality, grief, and loss, with a delicate, thoughtful touch, and it remains mostly true to the real-life art of ballet. While it’s not exactly going to go down as a queer love story for the ages, this movie is worth the watch, especially for fans of other ballet dramas.