Pina
IFC Center, January 5
Movie #1 for 2012
I’m a bit in love with modern dance (it’s one of the reasons I moved to New York). This week I saw two shows and, wedged in between them, a documentary about Pina Bausch, the leading German choreographer who died in 2009.
WIM WENDERS has built his documentary around Bausch’s body of work, and her dance company, rather than her life story. I found myself wanting to know more about her – how she grew up, what drew her to dance, how she died. But that’s what Wikipedia is for.
Visually, Pina’s work is stunning, and Wenders taps into that, keeping her designs and her aesthetic front and centre, rather than pushing his own. Wenders shoots some very long sections of dance in the staged setting, and some short pieces in unusual settings - a median strip in the city; a empty quarry; a wood. Wenders hangs the success of the film on the performances. He’s right to - they’re great. The choreography is inventive, expressive and original, and the dancers are fully committed to it.
But it’s not just a dance-on-film. There is a little bit of interpretation and some reflection on Bausch’s impact on the industry and on people. The company’s dancers reflection on Bausch - short memories and dreams of her - in voice over, played over images of their silent headshots.
The one bit where Wender’s gets a bit arch and tries to make a point falls a little flat. He’s clearly making a comment, but his message is unclear. It’s short-lived, though, and soon the focus is back where it should be - where it was for Bausch - on the dance.
