Storyline
SPOILER: A young girl from a modest Russian family studies classical ballet. After many difficulties, she succeeds as a young woman to enter the prestigious Bolchoi. However she turns to modern dance, then improvisation, then choreography. The movie includes beautiful dances from acclaimed choreographer
Trivia:
As many as 600 dancers were auditioned by the directors for the main female role. See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating: 8/10
This is one of the most underrated movies of 2016: reviews were mixed;
box office was reduced. Nonetheless, it is a great film about dance and
art, even though it is not pleasant with just pretty dancing scenes:
its ambition is greater.
Based on the graphic novel by Bastien Vivès ("Polina", 2011), it was
directed by acclaimed choreographer Angelin Preljocaj and his partner
Valérie Müller. It contains autobiographical elements: Preljocaj's
parents were poor Albanian refugees (Polina's parents are lower middle
class Russians); when he came to France he first lived in a modest
suburb (Polina struggles financially after she leaves Aix); he studied
classical dance before moving on to modern (just like Polina). Yet the
aspiration of the movie is not to depict a specific story, but to
illustrate the difficulties and beauty of dancing.
*** WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS ***
"Polina" shows the evolution of its heroine through different fields:
classical ballet, modern dance, improvisation, choreography. Every time
she challenges what she learned before: she needs to strip off her
previous knowledge to progress in a new field. Actually she even
sometimes needs to perform the exact opposite: "You have light
movements from classical ballet, but my postures are rooted into the
ground", the modern choreographer Liria tells Polina. It is a constant
search for beauty, perfection and exceeding one's standards.
That comes with hard work, injuries, failures, dead-ends and
humiliations. Yet technique is not the ultimate goal of art, but only
its basis: essentially, it requires a complete and disturbing challenge
of one's own personality. Liria tells Polina: "You only focus on
yourself, you need to be in harmony with your partner." Also: "An
artist looks at the world." A great artist is not just a skilled,
he/she must be open to his/her and others' sensations: he/she searches
for truth, not just beauty. This is the profound meaning of what Polina
tells her father in the bar when he asks her what she wants to do:
"Discover the world."
The movie is frequently elliptical, which increases its enigmatic
atmosphere. We don't see some of Polina's key moments, for instance her
audition for the Bolchoi or what happens just after she leaves Aix. Her
decisions remain unexplainable: she quits the famed Bolchoi to follow
her lover to Aix, where she will start from scratch and perform modern
dance she does not know; she leaves Aix because she is jealous, without
any prospects; we don't know why she goes to Anvers, of all places
renowned for modern dance. The end is mysterious (see below).
Most ellipses regard her family. We vaguely understand they smuggle
clothing to pay for Polina's ballet studies, but it is not explicit.
Later on, what is the Afghanistan route the father will take to pay the
criminals? Who wrecked the family's apartment and why? Where does the
father go afterwards? What does he eventually die of?
Regarding that, there seems to be two parallel movies: one about
Polina's artistic progression, one about her family. However, this
division is only apparent: the harsh parts with her family stress
Polina's difficulties to progress personally. And far from trying to
provide an easy background to the character, the family scenes increase
the overall sense of loss, both for Polina and for us viewers through
the ellipses and uncertainties noted above. We are lost as she is, in a
materially and emotionally unstable environment.
This said, what are the limits of the movie? First, the structure is
unbalanced. We spend a long time on ballet teaching (including when
Polina is a child), less on modern dance, even less on improvisation
and choreography. The latter part is not credible: one does not create
such an outstanding performance without experience, only relying on
"Let's try that" and "It looks good". Of course, the purpose is
symbolic to show Polina's transformation, but it could have been
introduced more progressively.
Second, the parts with Polina's family, despite the symbolic purpose
noted above, are somewhat exaggerated. Certainly the action depicted
does happen in real life, but we see little of her family apart from
hardships. Last, there are many clichés (the poor child who succeeds,
the frightful villains, etc.), even though they efficiently support the
main themes.
In summary, "Polina" sometimes feels awkward and amateurish. Despite
this, it is a challenging movie about art, emotions and personal
accomplishment. If you are sensitive to dance, notably modern, it is
worth viewing. Choreographies from Preljocaj are superbly conceived and
performed as expected, although they only appear in the second part.
Music is varied (baroque, romantic, modern, contemporary, techno),
highlighting the importance of expression and energy over form.
Remarkably, talented dancers emerge as good actors: Anastasia Shevtsova
now performs in Saint Petersburg's famous Mariinsky ballet; Jérémie
Bélingard is a first dancer at Paris Opera. Conversely, professional
actors impress by their dancing skills, notably Juliette Binoche and
Niels Schneider.
The end is compelling, mysterious and rather joyful compared to the
general dark tone. Polina and her partner dance on stage, in fake snow.
Apparently, they brilliantly managed to produce their work. It loops
the loop with the beginning, when Polina was dancing outside in the
snow. The contrast is striking, revealing her evolution: at the
beginning, she was a child from a modest family, dancing randomly among
tall dark buildings; at the end, she is a talented adult, performing on
a stylised stage a stunning choreography of her own (actually created
by Preljocaj himself of course).
We then see Polina quietly walking towards her former ballet teacher
Bojinski. She smiles: she finally found her vocation and peace of mind.
He smiles back as recognition of her achievements. However, it is
unclear if these last two scenes are real or fantasised (Polina has a
tendency to fantasise, for instance when she sees the deer in the
snow). The movie ends on this beautiful uncertainty: art remains a
moment between reality and dream.
0