Pina

In cinema, as so often before, I missed this Wim Wenders film. I guess the whole 3D hype scared me off so my experience is based on watching the conventional DVD. The film was nominated this year for an Oscar by the way but didn't win in the end.

The film was planned not as a pure documentary but as a glimpse into the work and art of German choreographer Pina Bausch and her famous ensemble in Wuppertal, Germany. The whole project got overshadowed and changed by the sudden death of Pina Bausch at the beginning of the filming.
What you get to see is a mix of very personal statements of the dancers about Pina and about their work together, memories and cultural inheritance.

Everyone expecting a good old dance film with a plot will probably be disappointed. Anyone who is looking forward to a traditional and informative documentary will be as well. What you get is dance theatre. Some scenes more abtract, others are more palpable. All scenes are of a weird visual beauty, the music is strangely addictive (more than one day I have had the music from the trailer stuck in my mind for hours!). More than once was I surprised about the otherworldliness and futuristic look of the Ruhr area in Germany where the scenes were made.
The whole film is like a dream, flushing you away...but leaving you (or maybe just me) at the end wondering "What was that?". Will have to watch it again (and maybe the 3D experience would have been worth it this time) and try to "grab" more of it, to understand more. In case there is something to understand of course. Maybe it is just the student in me who wants to interpret too much.
For now I find it inspiring and beautiful but lacking a bit of substance at the same time.

A beautiful thing to watch if you are into dance and theatre or, ideally, dance theatre. It won't explain you anything or tell you some truths directly but it will inspire you and charge up your creative batteries.