Featuring a brilliant performance from Sam Riley (Control), writer/director Joachim A. Lang's spectacular biopic charts the comet-like trail of the brilliant titular dancer and choreographer whose too-brief career took him from South Africa to the world's greatest ballet stages.
1960. Up-and-coming choreographer Cranko (Riley) has left London's Sadler’s Wells Ballet after being prosecuted for homosexual activity (at the time illegal in the UK), and has arrived in Stuttgart, Germany to work with the city's ballet company. With his charming demeanour, the manic workaholic swiftly revitalises their fortunes. After a controversial replacement of the prima donna and a series of new additions, Cranko's first production of Romeo and Juliet is a sensational success: the emotional performances of his dancers move the audience to tears. Cranko becomes the darling of the public, with a soon globally renowned ensemble, invited to perform at prestigious venues such as New York's Metropolitan Opera and Beijing's Tianqiao Theatre.
Driven by a quest for perfection in both art and love, Cranko grapples with destructive private setbacks, however, as long as his devoted dancers stand by him, he sees no reason to alter his intoxicating lifestyle...
With full cooperation from the current Stuttgart Ballet and other keepers of the subject’s legacy, the film is infused with performances by the company's present day dancers, set to excerpted classical compositions by Brahms, Britten, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, etc., all newly recorded by the Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra.