Wow! If ever there was a movie that epitomized the trope about a picture being worth a thousand words, it is Pina (2011). Pina, subtitled Dance, Dance, Otherwise We Are Lost, is one of the most emotionally, intellectually and visually stimulating pictures I’ve seen in quite a while. My companion and I left the theater so excited that we spent the better part of the next hour talking about it, resurrecting our favorite moments, describing the feelings it evoked. It was such a vivid and visceral experience, I know that my words will not do it justice. 
That said, Pina is a documentary about the innovative modern dance choreographer Pina Bausch, who died in 2009, and her dance company, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. Mostly, it depicts a sampling of her works, restaged specifically for the cameras. Tanztheater can be translated as “theatrical dance,” and that’s a pretty good description of what we get to see. Some of the dancing is on a theater stage; some is out of doors. There’s a bit on a streetcar, one in a tunnel, several in empty buildings. A famous piece is Café Müller, set in a large room with café tables and chairs, that must be brushed aside as the dancers, seemingly blind or in a trance, move about. Onstage, the works are no less theatrical. For Rites of Spring, the floor is covered with peat moss; another setting features a huge boulder, rain, and pools of water.
The dancers are actors; the actors are dancers. The women are lean and feminine, often in flowing gowns or gossamer slips. The men are buff, chiseled, strong, yet sensitive. All seem totally committed to their performance. All are wonderful to watch.
Now, I am not a dance devotee, and never even heard of Pina Bausch before this. I haven’t been to the ballet in years, and my exposure to modern dance is even more limited. I certainly can't analyze the technical aspects of the performances in this film. No matter. I can tell you that the dance in Pina is magnificent: dramatic, funny, raw, romantic, whimsical, deep, and above all else evocative … of love, longing, lust, isolation, belonging, pain, fear, vertigo, dreams, joy, death and life. Watching these dances, these dancers, I felt a connection to some of my deepest, most primitive personal and social emotions. How does this happen, when no words are spoken? This is the art. As Pina would say, it’s about Truth.
The director, Wim Wenders, best known for 1987’s Wings of Desire, has, in recent years been associated with documentary films, including 1999’s Buena Vista Social Club. Here, he mixes things up nicely – something deeply moving, followed by something light; indoors, then outdoors; a longer piece, followed by a short bit; a piece for two dancers, then the entire company. We only see segments from some of Pina’s longer productions such as Rite of Spring and Café Müller, but these seem to be self contained “movements” that supply their own context.
Pina was filmed in 3-D, and the added dimensionality subtly enhances the immediacy of our experience, without calling attention to itself. At just 103 minutes, the picture is never boring; there are so many facets of human experience to explore. I left desiring more.
Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch continues to tour around the world. Sadly ( for me) they were just in the Bay Area in December. They’ll be in London for an extended stay in June and July, 2012 (are you listening, R?). Hopefully, a return visit to the states next Fall.
In the meantime, by all means, see this movie.
In limited release and worth seeing on the big screen, if you can find it in your area.
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