Sunday, October 9, 2011

NYFF 2011: Pina: Dance Dance Otherwise We Are Lost(2011)


Wim Wender's tribute to choreographer Pina Bausch is one of the best uses of 3D I've run across. This is what people should be doing with 3D, namely using it to enhance a film with a glorious sense of place and space. But don't kid yourself, the film also works 2D, thanks to the marvelous dancing and mindblowingly wonderful soundtrack.

Okay, now that I've started in the middle let me start over.

Pina is a film that is made up of dance sequences from various pieces that were put together by Pina Bausch and her troop. The dances have been staged in the groups theater or in many of the most breathtaking cases in the real world (The tram bits are amazing in 3D). Interspersed with the dancing are brief statements by the dancers and friends of Pina.

For me the film started off as nothing special as we see some longish dance sequences. Then the film shifted from the theater into the real world, and director Wenders began to use film tricks for some stunning effects and suddenly this became a real joy to watch. Things got even better as the sequences became shorter and the world began to collide the stage.

You will forgive me for not being able to adequately describe this film, but I am not a dance fan. You could not get me to see any of these dances in a theater, so my vocabulary for describing what I saw is even more limited than normal. the best I can hope for is to describe the wonder and magic that is in this film.

I think the best way to express it might me to say "way cool".

I really liked what I was seeing and I was carried along by it all.

Keep in mind this is not a documentary. I know some places list it as such, and while to a small degree it kind of is, its really simply a dance film. If you are not a dance fan you may not like it, but if you're open to dance and want to see truly wonderful 3D see this film.

This film gets a US release December 23rd from IFC Films.

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