PINA (Wenders, 2011, C) - While I did go for one of the most cinema-inspired shots from this film (or at least one that immediately reminded me of THE SEVENTH SEAL), it’s really a wonderful mix of a dance performance and a movie. I’m on record as not being a big 3D fan, but not only does it mostly “work” here (with the exception of some of the wilder movements in close-up), I cannot imagine this movie being (as) successful in 2D. The depth is truly an asset, showing just how effectively Pina Bausch used space in her choreography, and often making you feel like you’re there with the audience: I generally don’t agree with the claim that 3D is somehow “more realistic”, but here is is, as what we see is often a stage. A stage full of beautiful, expressive and above all real dancers, who from one moment to the next get taken up into a bigger movement, or suddenly regain their individuality.
I didn’t think the talking head parts (or really, the heads + talking parts) added much, but I didn’t mind them. The heart of the movie is in the dance segments, though. Some are grander movements, large parts of shows, while others are (often very witty) moments strewn here and there. I loved the leaf-blower, for instance, and the scene in the tramcar (or whatever it’s called). There is little in the way of traditional continuity, but the often very visceral emotions do follow an arc, and after the initial ten minutes it takes to get used to the language of the film, it’s easy to get swept along - even when you have two young girls (8 or 9 yo) providing a running commentary and an insistent need to go to the bathroom.
