Just as the subject of his film, Pina Bausch, broke new ground in defining dance, so Wim Wenders has broken new ground in bringing Pinas remarkable choreography to the screen. Wenders, the author of such sublime, emotionally resonant films as WINGS OF DESIRE and PARIS, TEXAS, as well as the documentary, THE BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB, spent almost a decade trying to think of a way to translate the spatial component of dance, so integral to Pinas work, to the screen. Ironically, by the time he has discovered 3D as the proper cinematic medium and was prepared to start filming, Pina died with an unexpected suddenness, leaving Wenders to re-imagine his film, which was now a tribute to the choreographer and the work she did with the troupe she nurtured, The Tanztheatre Wuppertal.
While a film in which Pina participated would undoubtedly have been a different creature, the film in which she is recalled by her dancers has a quality that is elegantly bittersweet in the way individuals recall their personal interactions with Pina, and attempt to put into words what she meant to them. the film becomes one about their experience of the personality that so inspired them. Pina remains a palpable presence in every moment of the film, but also elusive, even in the few shots of her that Wenders includes, and the effect is marvelous. Pina as a woman, as a dancer, and as a choreographer is shown in all her facets, one of them being the indefinable quality of her particular genius. Instead of introducing the audience to what it was like to be Pina, Wenders allows the audience to enjoy the far more immediate, far more potent, far more accessible experience of discovering what it was like to be touched by her inspiration.
The same is true of the dance pieces that Wenders has captured for posterity. Using 3D, and having those 3D cameras dance with the dancers is to allow the viewer to be part of the performance itself, not just seeing the dance, but hearing the heavy breathing, and the yips of joy which enhance, rather than detract, from the illusion. The relationships between dancers and space, the way they integrate space into something with volume and life, the intensity of the primal emotions at work are startling and, to use a word that is sadly overused but never more appropriate in this case, stunning. It is impossible to see this film and not be swept away body and soul with Pinas interpretation of The Rite of Spring, which has a savagery not seen before. The same is true of her other pieces, as much psychodrama as dance in the traditional sense engage the viewer in a complex array of reactions on levels from the id right on up to ordinary consciousness. Café Mutter, in which the female dancers perform with eyes closed, another set in a seedy ballroom, where the characters flit from youth to middle-aged, to elderly as they perform ritual displays of ankles, teeth, and figures with a frank coldness. Wenders, in his choice of pieces, as well as his presentation, shows a tremendous insight into the pain and loneliness that are the themes of Pinas work, and also the sensitivity to show the works that are lighter, almost blissful. Moondance, which throws dancers on stage with a large rock and a pool of water and a sense of fun, or the giddiness of love with two dancers on a traffic median whirling with abandon. Her dancers expound on what Pina expected of them, frighten me was all she said to one dancer struggling to find the right moves, but Wenders, in keeping with the non-verbal language of dance, uses voice-over narration with the camera showing the dancers sitting alone, staring at the camera, or lost in their own thoughts.
Pina captures the heightened reality that Pina found in the artifice of dance. Just as her work was universal to the human experience, so were her dancers of all ages and all temperaments. Wenders, who so wanted to see the world through Pinas eyes, has done something even better. Hes allowed posterity to see her world, and in a way as breathtaking as the work itself.
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