The first Rush for me of the festival, I waited in line to snag a ticket to the only showing of La Danse – Le Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris. I'm not sure why there was only one showing of this film - I mean, if it's some special film and had a gala screening of it somewhere, fine, but this was just a plain, old documentary.This documentary was part of the Maverick's series, as the filmmaker, Frederick Wiseman is apparently famous in his circles. Sorry for not being educated about such things.
It was a long documentary. I felt like I was going to nod off for a little bit in the middle, but I survived. My problem with the film is that while it let me watch some great dancing and be a fly in the wall of the company during rehearsals and admin meetings, I didn't get any over-aching message from the film. I'm getting the feeling that Mr. Wiseman's films are kind of like that, but for my personal taste, I would like there to be a little bit continuity behind the different scenes.
The Q&A was an extended section where there was a small interview portion with Mr. Wiseman before the floor was given to different audience members. No revelations here. Someone asked about the clips of the city of Paris which were used to connect the sections about the company, and I understand how it's a nice way to situate yourself in the city where the company lives and give a literal journey between different locations where the company performs, but I don't necessarily think that it was very effective, nor elicited any deeper, thought provoking moments.
Would I highly recommend this documentary? Probably not, unless you love dance and just want to see the goings on in a famous ballet company.
- picture courtesy of www.tiff09.ca
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