Pina

23 February 2015  

Pina 2011

• Director: Wim Wenders
• Based on novel: no
• Cast: Pina Basuch and her dance troop
• Why?  Liked the film very much the first time
• Seen:  2011 at the cinema with a group of friends. Now: February 22, 2015

Modern dance frustrates me and fascinates me.  I rarely understand any narrative it may be telling but I feel deeply the visual and dynamic expression it offers.

Pina bestows upon us dance on stage, in parks, on escalators, on underground railways, in, elevated railway cars, on factory roofs, in water, sand, city traffic. It expresses loneliness, desolation, fear, need, longing, whimsy, absurdity, dreaminess, alienation, joy, pride.  “Pina saw deep into our souls,” says one of her dancers.

We see the planning of the choreography and stage sets, we hear the thoughts of the dancers and their memories of Pina Bausch, one of the leading dancers of our times. She died unexpectedly in 2009 at the age of 69.

She had led her dance troop in Wuppertal in northern Germany for many years. Many of the dances are performed in Wuppertal. Having passed through the city several times on trips through Europe I especially enjoy seeing dancing in parts of the city we saw on our visits.

The troop’s dancers are from all over the world, and of wide range of ages. The ones interviewed loved and revered her.

The dances they perform under her leadership are utterly fantastic and often border on the physically impossible.

The film is a visual dance orgy. It made such an impression on me when I first saw it that I clearly remember almost every detail. I, who remember so little of the films I see, even the ones I like. I remember, and I already want to see it again.

“Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost.” Fitting final words for a film.

5 * of 5