Country:
Germany
Recognizable Faces:
Pina Bausch (archive footage)
Directed By:
Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders' WINGS OF DESIRE was one of the first arthouse films I've ever seen. I didn't like it, but I powered through some other Wenders films and found something to like. PARIS TEXAS, THE AMERICAN FRIEND and his documentary on filmmaker Nicholas Ray LIGHTNING OVER WATER were inspired pieces of filmmaking. But as Wenders is inspired, he is also eclectic and unpredictable. PINA is one of those Wenders movies that came straight out of the left field. Before seeing the trailer, I had no idea who were Pina Bausch and the Tanztheater Wuppertal dance company. While PINA was beautiful and made actually a great use of 3D and its possibilities, I still knew very little about the woman herself. While I don't doubt it's a very fitting and moving tribute to Mrs. Bausch's work, I couldn't help thinking this was a little hermetic.
That's the thing about Wim Wenders. He's very uncompromising about what he does. It's a commendable trait of character, sure. But it got in the way at times, during PINA. The structure the movie is very simple and original. Choreographies, all over the place. Sometimes, taken from actual pieces in the Tanztheater Wupperthal catalog (Cafe Müller, Vollmond, etc.) and often some smaller pieces, made by her students as a tribute. I don't know if they are part of a bigger show, but it's sometimes just one movement. It's very raw and simple and Wenders left on purpose in there the thumping sounds and the restless breaths of the dancers, which I thought was a nice touch. The numbers are cut by archive footage of Pina Bausch working or interviews with her dancers. Once again, this is kept very simple. A few sentences, a single memory of their mentor. It's all done in respect and as a tribute to Pina Bausch.
I feel all kinds of weird saying that, but the showstopper of PINA is the use Wim Wenders makes of the 3D technology. While it's gimmicky when you look at people running away from explosions, it takes all its sense when you look at someone dancing. The 3D perspective makes it look like you're watching a live dancing show, while floating above the scene. There's nothing realistic about it, but it's not less enjoyable. So while I enjoyed Wenders' artistic integrity and his strong desire to give Pina Bausch a fitting tribute, as a modern dance neophyte, I couldn't help feeling locked out a little. Modern dance has somewhat of a narrow audience and I couldn't help but feel Wenders should have cut down on a few dance numbers to put more narrative in there. I feel like shit saying this, because I don't want to tell the man how to do his job, but there were times where learning about Pina's life would have been more interesting and would have chipped at this industrial sized block of dance numbers. I mean, her husband died of leukemia and she had a son with her boyfriend afterwards. I'm sure it helped shaping her work somehow.
I liked PINA. I wasn't crazy about it, but it's a courageous thing to do, to shoot a modern dance documentary in 3D. The result was visually stunning. If you're a fan of modern dance, this is the movie for you. If you're looking for a 3D movie with some substance to it, give PINA a try. While I thought it was a little intellectually hermetic, I can dig that better than the usual 3D movies that goes for the lowest common denominator. My issues with Wim Wenders aside, I would rank PINA as one of his successes. Not at the level of PARIS, TEXAS, but as a success nonetheless. While he filters the experience a lot, in a quest for a level of purity I'm not sure I understand (there are very few words spoken), the visual achievement that is PINA speaks for itself and does great justice to Pina Bausch and the Tanztheater Wuppertal. If you're feeling artistically limber with your movie money during the holidays, PINA is an interesting risk to take.
SCORE: 74%
I feel all kinds of weird saying that, but the showstopper of PINA is the use Wim Wenders makes of the 3D technology. While it's gimmicky when you look at people running away from explosions, it takes all its sense when you look at someone dancing. The 3D perspective makes it look like you're watching a live dancing show, while floating above the scene. There's nothing realistic about it, but it's not less enjoyable. So while I enjoyed Wenders' artistic integrity and his strong desire to give Pina Bausch a fitting tribute, as a modern dance neophyte, I couldn't help feeling locked out a little. Modern dance has somewhat of a narrow audience and I couldn't help but feel Wenders should have cut down on a few dance numbers to put more narrative in there. I feel like shit saying this, because I don't want to tell the man how to do his job, but there were times where learning about Pina's life would have been more interesting and would have chipped at this industrial sized block of dance numbers. I mean, her husband died of leukemia and she had a son with her boyfriend afterwards. I'm sure it helped shaping her work somehow.
I liked PINA. I wasn't crazy about it, but it's a courageous thing to do, to shoot a modern dance documentary in 3D. The result was visually stunning. If you're a fan of modern dance, this is the movie for you. If you're looking for a 3D movie with some substance to it, give PINA a try. While I thought it was a little intellectually hermetic, I can dig that better than the usual 3D movies that goes for the lowest common denominator. My issues with Wim Wenders aside, I would rank PINA as one of his successes. Not at the level of PARIS, TEXAS, but as a success nonetheless. While he filters the experience a lot, in a quest for a level of purity I'm not sure I understand (there are very few words spoken), the visual achievement that is PINA speaks for itself and does great justice to Pina Bausch and the Tanztheater Wuppertal. If you're feeling artistically limber with your movie money during the holidays, PINA is an interesting risk to take.
SCORE: 74%