Pina (Wim Wenders, 2011): Germany, France, UK

Reviewed by Truman Kewley. Viewed at Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The documentary film Pina was unlike any other film I have seen before.  If you are a dancer or very interested by the art of dancing I would recommend seeing the film Pina.  The film features dances unlike anything I have ever seen before witch made for an interesting film.  The structure of the film was lacking story but I don’t believe the film maker was concerned about the story more so than the actual dancers and dancing.  The music also really stood out and helped the dancing and movements flow threw out the entire film.

I viewed the film Pina at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.  The film was directed by Wim Wenders who did a great job of creating beautiful shots during amazing dance movements.  The subjects in the film Pina were Pina Bausch real dance students as they did Pina style dances and gave insightful information about the amazingly talented choreographer Pina Bausch.  The subjects all had a huge amount of respect for the late  choreographer and all felt a great sense of gratitude to even be apart of this film.

There was not really a plot to the film Pina.  The film was constructed of interviews with Pina Bausch’s old students and there Pina style dance shows.  There was not a story or a reason other than to show the life’s work of a woman who created a brand new way to move the human body.  In the interviews with Pina’s students they all seem to look up to her as almost a god like teacher who showed them the life and light that needed to be seen by there eyes and there eyes only.  Pina’s work was amazing to watch and her understanding of our body’s movements is almost unreal.

The most significant aspect of the film by far is the dancing.  The dances were unorthodox and strange yet also elegant and beautiful.  The sound track also helped create a story in the movements of the bodies.  The editing helped the audience feel like there was a story when there was none at all and they did a very good job putting the footage together that way.

The film Pina was unlike any fictional film or documentary I have ever seen.  Although I personally got bored about 45 minutes into the film, it was still very interesting and different.

I enjoyed watching the film Pina even though I did get bored.  I believe I may have liked it more if I had known more information about the film when I walked in the theater.  If you are or ever have been a dancer I would definitely recommend checking out this film.  If you enjoy watching contemporary dances and body movements unlike anything ever seen check this film out.  But if your like me not a huge dance fan never have been then I would recommend doing a little more research about who Pina Bausch is and what she accomplished in her life, then decided whether it is a film for you or not.