Pina (2011)

or about art/dance/freedom/expression/essence of a work. portrait of a woman. and the build of her universe. it is a film who must see. not define. not give verdicts or conclusions about it. because it is picture of a state. about the temptation to recreate the world. about the science to be yourself. about art and steps and bodies as tools and hard effort and the miracle of a moment. about honesty. an eulogy. and definition of a way to define the gift who defines her. something strange and fascinating. like each demonstration out of words. like each revelation of the truth behind the ordinaries every day images. a film about purpose of life. and about a form of tranquility who has the virtue to be the only reasonable self mark.

This is probably Wenders' best in years, although I admit I've skipped everything he's made since the terrible The End of Violence back in 1997. This is great, whatever the case. It's a very unconventional documentary about choreographer Pina Bausch. Well, not really. It's about her work. There's almost no biographical information throughout the film. All we really learn is that she was a choreographer, and that she's dead. I don't even think the film mentions her surname until the credits. This is all about her work, which Wenders stages with former members of her troupe. It's all about the dancing, and if you love dancing, well, this film is a real treat. The dancing is quite unconventional itself. Occasionally there would be dances with which I was not enamored, but the vast majority I loved. Apparently, this was made to be seen in 3D, but, as usual, I doubt it's worth the eye strain. It's perfectly spectacular in 2D.

This wasn't art. This looked like someone took too many mushrooms and told the dancers to do ridiculous things.How can Pina be considered anything but a fool after seeing this? Such boring choreography, goofy eulogies by the dancers, and dull visual effects.Took my wife and daughters, who are all dancers. They laughed all the way home at how horridly bad the movie was and were shocked at what some call art.We knew little about Pina going in, but when we left we were convinced of one thing, anyone who considers the person who created those dances as anything other than a goofball is an idiot.Do yourself a favor, DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE!

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this movie. Visually it's stunning and mesmerizing. I am not sure I would call it a documentary, much of it is performance art. I freely admit I know little about modern dance technique, but there does seem to be a fine line between dance and mime on occasion. We learn little about Pina Bausch herself which is kind of annoying, was the movie only made for people who were already avid fans? As I watched archive film of her in the studio smoking, I found myself idly wondering what she died of..? On the other hand, here I am still thinking about it, and looking her up on Google, so it must have made an impact at some level... Some of the locations where the pieces are set, are simply stunning. A street scene, an overhead light rail car, a quarry, a glass enclosed building, a stage and my favorite, a series of stone doorways. It's obvious that these are superb dancers, but I actually found quite a lot of the choreography repetitive and a little irritating. But then again, one of my favourite moves, where a female dancer dived through the arms of her male partner, was never repeated! Arghhh!!! Possibly I have spent too much time watching 'conventional' dance, ballet, jazz and tap, because I found myself thinking "Get on with it.." more than once. And I'm still a bit puzzled by the leaf blower, what was that about?But like I said, what do I know? Interesting, compelling and a visual feast. But a documentary? Not really.