‘Worlds Away’ a good introduction to Cirque

Las Vegas may not be the best place to judge "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away."

Locals aren't likely to get terribly excited about the movie considering that the valley has more Cirque shows than Best Buys.

And six of the seven shows "Worlds Away" depicts - "Believe," "Ka," "Love," "Mystere," "O" and "Zumanity" - are still readily available on the Strip. (The seventh, "Viva Elvis," closed Aug. 31 and would have been an easy excision from the film.)

During a visit to the traveling Circus Marvelous, a circus so low-rent it had to combine sideshow roles with the bearded fat lady, a young woman (former "Ka" cast member Erica Linz) becomes smitten with the troupe's aerialist ("Ka's" Igor Zaripov).

When he falls to the dirt floor, it goes all sands-through-the-hourglassy and sucks them both into a mystical realm in the clouds where the Strip's Cirque shows apparently live.

The plot of "Worlds Away" - such as it is - involves her wandering from elaborate tent to elaborate tent, and show to show, searching for him.

Of the seven shows, "O," "Love" and "Ka" fare the best, with multiple acts represented. "Zumanity" and, surprisingly, "Mystere" only get one performance each, while "Believe" and the late "Viva Elvis" are given the move-along, nothing-more-to-see-here treatment.

The largely wordless film most closely resembles a concert movie with just a bit of new material.

But while it offers angles the paying public rarely gets to see - shots from overhead, views from beneath the surface of the "O" pool and vivid close-ups of the performers - the transition to film isn't always successful.

"Worlds Away's" quick edits dilute the power and wonder of the aerial acrobatics. The flying contraption from "Ka" is missing its inherent sense of awe. And film can't capture the scope and seeming impossibility of seeing all this unfold inside a theater, night after night.

Some of the more intimate acts - a modified version of "Zumanity's" water bowl, for instance - fare better. And the "Ka" staging still looks incredible.

"Worlds Away" is certainly no substitute for seeing the shows live. But it does make for a good introduction to Cirque du Soleil and, if nothing else, should give first-time viewers a sense of what all the fuss is about.

Contact Christopher Lawrence at
clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567.