Akerman’s rarely-seen made-for-TV documentary about Pina Bausch is intimate, minimalist and soul-stirring as the famous choreographer goes on a European tour with her company of dancers.
Review #2,773
Dir. Chantal Akerman
1983 | Belgium, France | Documentary | 57 min | 1.33:1 | French
Not rated – likely to be PG13
Cast: –
Plot: Chantal Akerman follows famous choreographer Pina Bausch and her company of dancers, The Tanzteater Wuppertal, for five weeks while they are on tour in Germany, Italy, and France, capturing Pina’s unparalleled art not only on stage but also behind the scenes.
Awards: –
Source: Icarus Films
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Moderate – Pina Bausch; Dance & Music; Stage Performance
Narrative Style: Straightforward
Pace: Slightly Slow
Audience Type: Niche Arthouse
Viewed: Le Cinema Club
Spoilers: No
While Wim Wenders’ Pina (2011), made in 3D during those golden few years after the format’s short-lived revival with Avatar (2009), is probably still the most recognisable film showcasing the legacy of the famous German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch, we have to go back to the early 1980s for a made-for-TV documentary by Belgian auteur Chantal Akerman for an uncommonly intimate and minimalist treatment of the same subject.
Lasting no more than an hour, Akerman’s keen, sensitive eye observes Bausch as she goes on a European tour with her company of vivacious dancers. We get footage of rehearsals and behind-the-scenes, but the thing about Akerman’s cinema is that they don’t feel like ‘coverage’ at all.
“A few snippets, some feelings, a muddle of impressions.”
This is a proper work of considered filmmaking, shot frequently in long takes and at a suitable distance so that the art of performative dance may reveal itself, in small poetic moments or through large gestural movements and patterns.
Akerman’s fascination with the abstract properties of Bausch’s work somewhat mirrors her quest as a director of ‘lived’ moments. Her camera asks: why are these dancers performing, here and now, and not there and then?
Like all films about art and its relation to the human experience, we as audiences see One Day Pina Asked as an artefact of the past, a document of legacy, a tribute to a great artist.
But in this rarely-seen work, Akerman achieves something far rarer, at least to me: while watching her film, I felt as if I was watching it unfold live, and that she was filming the performers for the very first time.
Grade: B+
Promo Clip:
Eternality Tan 
Great review! I haven’t heard of this film so I’m not sure whether I would ever watch it. That being said, I am fascinated by films capturing the lives of dancers from marginalized communities. In this regard, I loved “Joyland” which captured the struggles of a transgender Pakistani dancer. Here’s my review for that film: https://huilahimovie.reviews/2022/12/28/joyland-2022-movie-review/
LikeLiked by 1 person