Pina

Plot synopsis:
The film presents extracts from some of the most noted dance pieces by Pina Bausch in the Tanztheater ("dance theater") style of which Bausch was a leading exponent. The extracts are from four pieces: Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), Café Müller, Kontakthof, and Vollmond. These are complemented with interviews and further dance choreographies, which were shot in and around Wuppertal, Germany; the film includes scenes showing the Wuppertal Schwebebahn, an elevated railway, and some dance sequences take place inside its carriages.
In the first piece, Le sacre du printemps (Frühlingsopfer, The Rite of Spring) (1975), the dancers of the Tanztheater Wuppertal, separated into male and female groups, move about a stage covered by a thick layer of peat.
The following section, Café Müller (1978), portrays a café Pina often visited when she was a child. In a simple setting consisting of some tables and chairs and doors, a small woman dressed in white is entering the café. Two more women, one of whom is obviously blind, appear. They hesitate to step further, as the tables and chairs are obstructing their way. Two men come around and try to remove these barriers. Eventually the blind woman and one of the men stand face to face. The second woman wraps her arms around the other men, but she slips. This part repeats and seems to remain in a loop.
The next piece, Kontakthof, (Kontakt "contact" + Hof "court, courtyard", hence "contact court, courtyard of contact") was performed multiple times for Wenders' cameras, with groups of different generations: teenagers, middle-aged dancers, and dancers over 65. Bausch had choreographed these three variants as Kontakthof – Mit Teenagern ab 14 (2008), Kontakthof (1978), and Kontakthof – Mit Damen und Herren ab 65 (2000). The film edits these performances into one, cutting between different performers to highlight their different abilities.
In the final piece, Vollmond (2006) (Vollmond, "full moon"), the stage is flooded. The scenery consists of one large rock and some chairs. At the end of the film, the actors face the audience on a small path with a brown coal mining region in the background to an open end.

Tags: boring

Review:
At moments I was moved nearly to tears, I wanted to answer the question Pina reportedly put often to her dancers, "what do you long for," with the answer "beauty—and this could serve for now." I saw this tonight at Vancouver International Film Festival in 3D on the strength of its description and Wenders being the director and I'm very glad I did.
Though normally I don't care for cars or driving, in the wake of the dance spirit invoked in this film, I revelled in freedom of movement—in movement itself—at first hand in my own body and at a remove, in the things around me.
So my thoughts on this film probably won't have any interest to you if you are already a dance fan or a dancer or a fan of Pina Bausch in particular.
But if, like me, you have heard that this is a visual feast of a film, or just that it is a Wim Wenders documentary, and are wondering whether to go see it for those reasons, this might help you decide.I was a reluctant viewer because it was clear from the beginning that I still didn't 'get' it - what did it all mean?
In this rather commercial context, Wim Wenders seems to be first « classical filmmaker » to use it for artistic purposes, that is as an adequate medium to render the complexity of Pina Bausch's choreography.
Preceding Wender's documentaries really showed the in and out of things : Tokyo-Ga revealed the paradoxical legacy of Ozu, and the Buena Vista Social Club the spontaneous life of the homonymous music band.
Strangely enough a 3-D film only reveals a one-dimensional image of Pina Bausch : an unaccessible goddess, far away from the livings, and far away from the living person she was.My final statement : an overlong documentary, but, probably, the cinematic experiment of the year.
Beautifully composed piece of art to remember Pina Bausch and contemporary dance with..
Whether Wender's work is considered a film, eulogy or a documentary, I can say that I have never felt so much for a production of moving pictures before that I would feel the necessity to express my thoughts through written words.I have a great passion for dance and used to practice it a lot more a few years ago.
Not very much of replicas either to explain in clear words why or if the different pieces are linked together, and definitely nothing to tell about Pina Bausch's private life.
Pina's art is shown piece by piece in the film featuring choreographies and performing arts carried out by her closest dancers in different milieux.
It expresses diversity and unity at the same time, gives life to poetry and most remarkably, making music visible in a way that I have not seen in a film before.
It describes relationships between men and women, young and old, human and nature, along with senses of loneliness, yearning, passion, pain and joy mixed with a dose of subtle humour.And they are all performed by a group of highly skillful professionals of different ages, nationalities and languages, whom sometimes, through open monologues, give us an insight on Pina's character.
Not only do they reach out to touch by movements, but also through empathy and facial expressions of compassion, making them very credible actors/actresses.To sum up: If you can deal with lack of dialogues without getting bored, make sure then to have some understanding about dance, or a general interest in art and scenography to truly appreciate this film.
Watching the film, this is what I get the sense Pina accomplished: she allowed empty space around these people, not over-directing, not explaining every gesture, perhaps not even communicating a whole point or story, reflecting this in the actually sparse surroundings she prepared around them, so at her smallest hint they poured into that space their own spontaneous being.
It is a tribute to the late German choreographer, Pina Bausch, as her dancers perform her most famous creations.I am not familiar with modern dance, so why not watch one of the best at work.
I probably didn't miss anything, but who knows.The film has very little in the way of dialog; an occasional reflection by her dancers, and focuses on performances of her most famous pieces.
But I swear the effects seem remarkably natural.I was agape throughout the scene where one dancer in a serene industrial site shows a couple of cuts of meat to us and shouts 'veal!' before dancing on her tiptoes for what seemed like forever.
This film isn't exclusively for dance lovers; it's for admirers of culture.Although I would find a second viewing of Pina to be quite taxing, I have no trouble in recommending it to anyone.
For the critics, that say that 3d made the some characters seem too clean, almost virtual, and the background sometimes blurry, this is a movie (not a documentary in fact), a Wenders movie, not a live Bausch dance performance.
For those of you not immersed in the dance world, Pina is a movie about German choreographer Pina Bausch, who recently died at the age of 68.
I feel so inspired and so thankful to have a person like Pina Bausch pave the way in the art I'm so passionate about..
I have been to many dance performances from classical to modern, and this is great.The documentary/eulogy starts of with music by Stravinsky, Rights of Spring to build a spring board to extraordinary film making.Dance excerpts are interspersed with silent head shot interviews with v.o. of the dancers.
I went to see this last night, and though I barely retained my sanity to the end, there were many times I wanted to go screaming from the movie theater.Most of the film is filled with weirdly interpretive dance sequences that were crazy enough to make you want to bang your head against a wall (some of the dancers actually did that during dances), but maybe it wouldn't have been so horrible if we were told what they were supposed to be interpreting.
I discussed it with one other person (there were only four of us in the entire theater) and I said to her that "Okay, she wasn't crazy because these people swore loyalty to her for so many years, but from these dances...no, she was crazy." Let me give you a few examples...A dancer comes out with two pieces of meat, and yells, "This is veal!" And then she dances for several minutes with the veal in her ballet slippers.One male dancer is walking along and another places a branch on his right shoulder, then another on a left shoulder, crux of the elbow, and so on, until he has several balanced on different parts of his body.A female carries a pillow on a real subway, making monstrous noises with every step, while a make dancer sits at the back of the subway car wearing some kind of weird animal-type ears.One female dancer carries a potted tree on her back around a lake.
If you like modern dance you'll see this film and enjoy it.
I didn't know much about her going into the film and unfortunately I knew just as little leaving the theatre."Pina" is less a documentary than a montage of tributes to her memory, performed affectionately by members of her academy past and present.
The sense of depth is powerful and involving for the audience, making them feel like they are in the midst of the dancers as they twirl, sweat, leap and thrash about the stage.The imagery is stark, painterly and epic at times, most notably in extracts from the dark, primal piece "The Rite Of Spring" in which the dancers' anguished, fearful expressions tell a hundred stories.
By the time the scene of the woman getting soil shovelled on her back arrived, I felt sufficiently numb enough to walk out, which I would've done had my dancer friends not been sitting bug eyed with rapt attention either side of me.I think had Wenders given a more honest investigation into Pina's life and perhaps left the more bizarre and uninspiring tribute clips as DVD extras, it might've been a better film.
Apparently German filmmaker Wenders had for decades planned such an exposure of Pina Bausch.She surely is a banquet of a soul, and any film that captures morsels would be worth it.
Wim Wenders was planning a film about Pina Bausch before her sudden death from cancer in 2010, so the film that he has made has become a loving tribute to one of the most innovative choreographers of the 20th century.
Wenders offers the dancers their chance to say how Pina got them to perform -some say nothing but express their thoughts in dance, often in the streets or on the overhead train in Wuppertal where Pina's theatre was based.
I haven't seen the 3D version but I have to say the dancing is superb, and while the primary focus is on the works rather than the person, Pina emerges as an intense, difficult, but loving person who generated equally intense loyalty among the members of her company.
Wenders own impeccable artistic integrity has produced one of the best films about dance, and one of the best documentaries ever made..
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!.
My good friend Riet was the course leader and I remember (this is about 35 years ago) her talking about this German choreographer woman Pina Bausch.
Ms Bausch sadly passed away two years ago just before a film about her work and life was about to start shooting by Wim Wenders.
Though I am a bit of a fan of Wim Wenders, which is why I watched this film when it came on Sky Arts, I was rather more sceptical amount watching a documentary about modern dance and its creator.What did surprise and quietly amaze me, was, how different the pieces of dance were; all short and diverse and superbly filmed.
I'm not familiar with Pina Bausch, nor in fact could I name any choreographers associated with modern dance, in fact.
He also has made quite a reputation for himself in the documentary sphere, which adds respect to all he does now - you know that a project chosen by him will be treated with passion, enthusiasm and proficiency.To me, learning about Pina Bausch was very much secondary and the film catered for this, which I, personally thought best.
But, for lovers of modern dance and Pina Bausch, then I'm sure it must be..
The interviews with the dancers themselves showed a love and respect for the subject of the movie, Pina Bausch, but we found out precious little about her which was disappointing.
I was thinking about these dreams while watching the dancers whirling and spinning with abandonment in Pina, Wim Wenders' 3-D extraordinary documentary tribute to the late dance choreographer Pina Bausch.
In a humorous piece that takes place on a monorail, one dancer has a confrontation with a pillow while another sits in the back seat with two large rabbit ears on his head.While we learn little about Pina's personal life or her interpretation of the dances she has created, the dances speak for themselves and do so in a way that is both aesthetically appealing and spiritually resonant.
A beautiful tribute to Pina Bausch, a German dancer choreographer who pioneered the modern dance genre.
The film consists of Pina's troupe of dancers performing several of her dances on stage and in real world settings.
The Works of Pina Bausch as Seen by Wim Wenders.
When Pina Bausch died unexpectedly, without the dancer and choreographer by his side (as he projected the film since the 1980s), the end result is only fair.
Yet I would not tell anyone not to see Wender's film: more for dance reasons than for cinematic value, «Pina» is a registry of the work of a great artist, of a daughter of two centuries.
this only thing that this film gave me is the dancers, male or female, did a very forceful dancing, so powerful yet so manipulatively untrue to the stage by the stravinsky animal-like cursing tune and tempo.
This movie is supposed to be a tribute to dead choreographer Pina Bausch by her dancers.
Reading some the interviews that Wim Wenders gave about Pina I learned that this film ended to be something quite different from what the director originally intended.
While fascinated a long time by Pina Bausch's creation and especially Cafe Muller, Wenders could not find for a long time the appropriate means of expression to make a film about it.
The result is a film which is unique in its way, hard to enter in any category, a good example actually of how relative and futile categories are.What we get on screen is a portrait and a homage to Pina Bausch.
While Wim Wenders authored many documentaries about music or history of cinema, this film is not the usual documentary, neither is it a biography (no chronology, no theoretical analysis of her work), but a portrait of an artist who was among the few who revolutionized her discipline, a portrait assembled from testimonies from the dancers who worked with her (although some say no words) and most of all by her art as it was filmed and brought to screen.
Maybe the best description I found is the one in the German sub-title of the movie - a Tanzfilm, a Dance Movie.There are indeed a great deal of beautifully filmed ballet scenes, in different environments, and here we see the hand of a master director, as almost all required innovation in building the sets and making them look like belonging to a cinema event, not to a filmed performance.
Wenders succeeds here to work the synthesis, and Pina is both a ballet performance of first class and a cinema event combining the best of the two arts and amplifying it by the power of 3D.
In several scenes in the film we see Pina Bausch during repetitions mixing with the dancers, watching and talking with them, working together as a team.
Fascinating Work of Art. Wim Wenders fantastic documentary tributed to world-renowned choreographer Pina Bausch has a wild kinetic energy to it, and through it's brilliance, it's irresistible.
More performance art than dance, the genius of Pina is matched perfectly by Wenders' crafty filmmaking.
One can't help but wonder how differently this documentary would have turned out had its subject, Pina Bausch, not passed away from cancer just days before filming commenced.
dancing from those who brought her work to life.Director Wim Wenders had planned for years to document Ms. Bausch and her fascinating interpretative dance company.
The dances are brought to life for the first time without Pina's direction.
Along with these pieces, are short snippets of interviews with her dancers and further dance routines shot around Wuppertal, Germany.Wenders was originally set to make a documentary on the German choreographer.
Even more that it is filmed in 3D which allows us to communicate to Pina Bausch' Art in the most direct and satisfactory way.
Wenders understands that completely, paying respect to her unexpected death, as well as the fact that if Pina had been alive, by the time of the filming, he could have made a completely different documentary than the one he delivered to us.
It was nominated at the BAFTAs (Foreign Language Film) and Oscars (Documentary) and was famous filmmaker Wim Wenders' tribute to the late dancer and dance choreographer Pina Bausch.
The film basically consists of interviews with Bausch, her dancers and also many dance scenes.
I've seen some plays of Pina's work and also heard about her in my drama classes, thus I decided to watch this movie to better understand her life, her achievements, in short, to know her better.
I'm kidding, but this dance choreographer takes her art above and beyond the avant- garde, maybe.I especially like the one dancer with the leaf blower.
No matter how bad what these two friends say is, it is astonishing how much of what Kael mentions, stand for this film; so when in the end Bausch urges for more and more dance, "otherwise we will perish," this, in Wenders' hands, sounds like amateurish self-righteousness and unwilling parody.
Beyond this Wenders makes no attempt to contextualise Bausch's work, his choice of filming the dances adds little to Pina's choreography (it often detracts!), and often the objects, sets and "metaphors" he adds to her routines are clunky and simplistic, like his use of industrial girders, rolling vehicles and big window panes.
Voice over adulations directed at Pina from her dancers lend the film an overly referential tone, the choreographer sanctified to such an extent that her dances almost cease to speak for themselves.
The film was shot in 3D, a technology most typically find annoying, but like fellow German Werner Herzog ("Cave of Forgotten Dreams"), Wenders makes the technology work, his camera weightlessly skirting above and around the dance troupe.
But of course Pina is a contemporary, Modern dancer (her work wasn't even primarily about dance).
I never saw her live again after that and though I love contemporary dance I never found any modern dance ensemble as moving as what I had seen from Pina Bausch.
And Wenders succeeded in even making Wuppertal look beautiful (Quite an achievement!).Many of the dance scenes are filmed in the middle of Wuppertal or inside their famous Schwebebahn (sort of a monorail).
Imagine one moment one of Pina's dancer would have danced that role.