Title: Pina Director: Wim Wenders Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Genre(s): Documentary Rated:       (For some sensuality/partial nudity and smoking)

CONSUMER ADVICE

Parents, there is some mild nudity because the dancers where thin clothes, but professional dancers do this because if they didn't they would get too hot. Recommended for ages 6 and up.

There is passion behind dancing that I cannot fully explain. Dancing is an art form, one that requires skill, dedication, and most likely some creativity. I think I can do the two-step and the Macarena, but otherwise my knowledge of dancing is limited to what I see in films like “Pina,” which is like watching someone speaking a different language. Yes, most of the people in “Pina” speak German, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how they view their bodies, and how their bodies move to represent deep feelings that I can only imagine. When one dancer is told that he needs to visualize the moon he does just that. Do I think of the moon when I see this dance?

I can't say I do, but he's so skilled at what he does I'm going to trust that it's an accurate expression of what the moon is in dance. The film was set to be made a few years ago by legendary dance instructor Pina Bausch, who all the dancers in this film revere as a masterful painter. She held off on the film because she wanted 3D technology to catch up to her vision and then passed away before the film could be made. Director Wim Wenders canceled the project but restarted it after Pina's dancers pleaded to make the film a tribute film instead. Does the film succeed as a tribute film? I'm not entirely sure. Outside of the fact that the dances portrayed in this movie were created by her I walked away understanding very little about Pina.

I don't think I fully understand the dancing either. Just what compels these people to do these seemingly random dances? They are so passionate about this they even perform some of these dances out in public where they can use props from the real world in their art. These scenes are actually the most exciting because you see dancers do what they are good at in a raw, pure setting that is protected by curtains of backstage illusions. Though it would have been nice if Pina herself could have been involved in the film, she was correct to wait for proper 3D cameras to become available. The 3D is extremely important to this film as it makes the audiences part of the art.

It features extreme close-ups that invade our personal space and makes us part of the action. There are even times when it's like we are simply sitting in the auditorium watching the show like we would if we went to the theater itself. One scene involves lightening, rain, and lots of twirling. If I saw this scene in 2D I suspect the scene would have been less exciting, but since the dancers are in the room with me it was a very intimate sequence to experience. If you can't see the dancing come alive in the 3D version then you might as well stay home. “Pina” is more about the dancing experience than it is about dancing or even Pina herself.

It follows dancers and watches with a firm eye what they do and how they do it. They don't have time to explain it though. Something tells me if they had to do that they'd rather do something else. Dancing is about passion and emotion. That much is on full display in “Pina” with the elaborate dance sequences, and maybe Pina would have been very happy to see such dances re-created with such intimacy and life on the big screen. One day though I would like to see a proper documentary on Pina that gets into why she loved to dance and why exactly her dancers choose to present themselves and their art in the way that they do. In this regard “Pina” falls very short. But for the raw emotion on screen it is a beautiful film.