REVIEW: Wim Wenders' 3-D Pina Makes Its Own Joyful Dance

Now that everyone has grown tired of touting the allegedly thrilling promise of 3-D, we may have some chance of figuring out exactly what its future might be. While I still think 3-D is almost less than a gimmick, I’ve come to think that its real promise lies not in big-budget filmmaking along the lines of The Adventures of Tintin or even a picture as wonderful as Hugo, but in the hands of directors working on a more modest scale who simply have a good idea and a spark of enthusiasm for the medium. Wim Wenders has brought that spark to a rather unlikely subject, the late German modern-dance choreographer Pina Bausch. For years, Wenders and Bausch, longtime friends, had been working on a movie together. Bausch died suddenly in 2009, at age 68, and Pina is Wenders’ tribute to her, less a strict documentary than a heartfelt — and visually gorgeous — celebration of Bausch’s work and her mode of working. What’s remarkable about Pina is how democratic it is, how casual it is about opening up the world of modern dance to people who know, or perhaps care, little about it. I’d always avoided Bausch, assuming it was all bony dancers in drab skintone leotards, miserably acting out the angst of mankind, or whatever. I now see how wrong I was. Some of Bausch’s ideas may not result in anyone’s idea of conventional (whatever that is) beauty: She might scatter the floor with dirt, which would mingle with the sweat clinging to the dancers’ dresses, resulting in damp, mother-earth stains. A brawny man in a tutu, being pushed along slowly on a railway handcar, appears to be carrying some pretty heavy-duty German sorrow and guilt on his shoulders. But Wenders makes it all seem accessible, framing and connecting images — sometimes rather bizarre ones — in a way that draws us closer rather than alienating us, without ever softening the intended effect. Pina mixes performance footage with interviews Wenders conducted with Bausch’s longtime dancers. The form Wenders chooses for the latter takes a bit of getting used to: The dancers face the camera, mute and unmoving, while their words float out in voice-over. But the approach works. It’s as if the dancers’ unspoken, private thoughts are escaping into the world outside (not unlike the way those same thoughts might be expressed through dance). One dancer speaks of her shyness when she first joined the company. “You just have to get crazier!” Bausch said to her, and from what we can tell, she did. Another speaks simply of missing Bausch, not just as a choreographer and guide but as a presence. “Pina, I still haven’t dreamed about you,” she says plainly. “Please visit me in my dreams.” The performance footage in Pina includes portions of stage performances of works like Caf Mller (in which the dancers stroll, drift and slide around the chairs and tables of a plain, small cafe, alone, together and alone-together) and, intriguingly, several dances staged outside, around the environs of Bausch’s home base of Wuppertal (one dance takes place on a traffic island in the midst of an intersection, another on a city tram). The latter seem jarring and out-of-place only until you realize that they’re a way of rooting Bausch and her work in a specific geographic location, as well as a way of recognizing that a dance can make itself at home anywhere. I’ve always loved talking to dancers or reading dance critics on the subject of making a dance, the word “making” reinforcing the idea that a work of dance is as much a crafted thing as, say, a painting, a sculpture, even a birdhouse. But dance is ephemeral, a piece of art that emerges from the discipline of movement and the emotion of the dancers, perhaps in that order. Even when it’s captured on film, the way Wenders does here, it still seems fleeting and precious. Wenders makes these dances seem both spectacular and intimate. He films a dancer in a printed chiffon dress pirouetting en pointe against somewhat a drab industrial backdrop. Did I mention that there’s uncooked veal squidging from her slippers? Wenders hardly pretends this is business as usual. Rather, he coaxes us into understanding, or at least reckoning, with the jarring but wholly compelling image in front of us. It’s as if he were saying, “I realize this woman has stuffed raw meat in her toe shoes, but trust me, go with it.” And if you’re going to film anything in 3-D, why not dancers? Wenders revels in the contours and angles of these glorious bodies, some of which are brazenly muscular in some places and fleshy in others. (Bausch used dancers of all ages.) There’s vast grace and beauty here, but there’s also evidence of how dancers put their bodies to work: Jutting shoulderblades, veins a-poppin’, bunions coming right at ya! Wenders’ camera shows it all. He has made a movie the way choreographers and dancers make a dance: With muscle and with heart. Editor’s note: Portions of this review appeared earlier, in a different form, in Stephanie Zacharek’s Berlin Film Festival coverage. Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

Wim Wenders on Pina, 3-D Epiphanies and Until the End of the World at 20

After more than four decades of creative peaks, valleys, experiments and triumphs that have established him as one of the most eclectic filmmakers of his generation, Wim Wenders has ventured into entirely new territory for his new documentary Pina: 3-D. The film’s subject — the late, legendary choreographer (and Wenders’s longtime friend) Pina Bausch — likely wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Part concert film, part biography and all warm-hearted tribute, Pina profiles Bausch’s work and influence both through the eyes of her colleagues and against the backdrop of the world that inspired her. Wenders frames this legacy vividly — from a stage lined with soil to a somnambulant stroll through the park to a vaguely hallucinatory trip on a hanging commuter train — while the 3-D technology entitles the dances themselves to the space and dimension that eluded the director over decades of previous attempts to collaborate with Bausch. The results have moved festivalgoers from Berlin to NY and Los Angeles, and they finally reach U.S. theaters this week in limited release. Wenders spoke with Movieline about Pina, Pina, pushing the limits of 3-D, the 20th anniversary of his great, globetrotting Until the End of the World, and how to enjoy the reviled Lou Reed/Metallica collaboration LuLu. Pina has caught on quite dramatically since premiering earlier this year in Berlin. What’s your take on the reaction — and having reestablished Pina’s legacy onscreen? I think the reaction by audiences by audiences not only in Europe and America — but also by critics — is really a reaction to the beauty of Pina’s work. A lot of people have caught on to the film in very emotional ways. I think they are surprised and at the same time happy that there was something they may have missed there, but now they can at least see it right in front of their eyes. Obviously you and Pina go back quite a ways, but how and when did this kind of collaboration first arise? You have to go back a quarter of a century. We first started to talk about it in the mid-’80s, and then we just toyed with the idea. We really took it more seriously in the ’90s, and it was Pina who pushed for it. As soon as she did, I realized, “We’ve got to do this.” I had to sit down and write out a concept and actually write out how I would do this — how I would film the glory of Pina’s dance. I realized I didn’t have, in my craft at least, what it took to make it happen. I felt I didn’t have the adequate tools, and the more I thought about it, the less I was convinced I could do justice to Pina’s art with my possibilities as a filmmaker. It was the invisible wall between what Pina did onstage and what I could put on the screen. I was honest to Pina and told her, and she was patient with me. She said, “Eventually you will find it. There’s got to be a way.” And that was a running gag between us for more than 10 years. “When are you ready, Wim?” And I said, “Not yet, Pina.” Until I found a way — and that was not in myself, not in my soul or in my heart. I found out all of the sudden that there was an addition to my craft that I had not known yet. And that was called 3-D. What was your first reaction to the resurgence of 3-D and its improved technology, particularly as a filmmaker? I was sitting in a theater putting on these glasses for the very first time… I mean, I’d done it 40 years ago for some Hitchcock movie, but that was long ago. I even remember in the ’90s, I saw a Cirque du Soleil film in 3-D. But the technology wasn’t really available. So 3-D was altogether forgotten, and it had never really been an option for us when we thought how to do it. And all of the sudden I’m sitting there with these glasses on, not thinking of much, really. I saw a film called U2 3D — a very early 3-D film, one of the first on the market. I thought it would be fun to watch a 3-D concert. But from the first shot on, I was mesmerized. I almost didn’t see or hear the film anymore; I just saw the possibilities. And the possibilities were the answer to 20 years of questioning ourselves how to film dance. There it was, because for the first time we could enter the very kingdom of dance — and that was space. It hit me that that had been the invisible wall — that we had never had access to that kingdom. How did you select the pieces that were most compatible with 3-D? How did you determine they were compatible? We selected the pieces together — Pina Bausch and I. Their compatibility with 3-D was striking. In a strange way, Pina’s dance and 3-D were made for each other from the beginning. It was like a match made in heaven; it was beautiful, this affinity for each other. From the beginning, I knew they were made for each other, and they would bring out the best in each other. Say, for instance, Caf Mller and Le Sacre du Printemps — the first ones that we chose. Caf Mller is a stage full of these chairs and these dancer running through these chairs, and the space itself is so beautifully staggered with these objects — these chairs — you couldn’t have thought of it in a more ingenious way for a 3-D shoot. And Vollmond (Full Moon), the last piece we shot — with this water onstage, and all this water coming down and being splashed toward you? It was like it couldn’t have been choreographed more nicely for 3-D. Beyond the dances, though, some of the scenery and logistics themselves are stunning. What went into deciding to shoot on a train or in a traffic intersection? When we started to shoot that was all wishful thinking, because we started in 2009 — the infancy of 3-D. There was not much equipment available. The first leg of the shoot we shot on the stage with this huge monster — this huge dinosaur — of a crane to carry the equipment. We would not have been able to go into the hanging train or the city; the equipment was not light enough. And to shoot with Steadicam was completely wishful thinking on the first leg. You have to remember this was months before Avatar even came out. You couldn’t just rent any equipment. It wasn’t available. And then my stereographer realized how badly I wanted to get out into the city, and he singlehandedly created the first Steadicam rig that was available — at least in Europe — and with the very first generation of cameras that were mobile, we went out and shot out and about in the city. That was the next spring. There just seem to be so many onlookers out in the city. Were people curious? I swear to God, nobody seemed to know what we were doing there. And Wuppertal is an industrial, working-class city. They don’t care about some film crew standing on the corner. We were left alone as much as Pina was left alone for 40 years. That’s what enabled her to work in that little city and work with that continuity. She was able to work unobserved. How much of directing itself is in fact choreography? Say, between actors, or with the camera, or with actors and the camera against space? In the case of Pina, the choreography already existed, and I had to respect it. And I wanted to respect it as much as possible. My choreography was the choreography of the camera — a sort of reverse-angle choreography: I had to make the cameras sort of react and dance along to Pina’s choreographer. So I was a choreographer of the camera. I probably was such a choreographer after my initial meeting with Pina, which was in the mid-’80s. I instantly got high doses of Pina; I was so blown away with everything that was available that I saw a retrospective of six in a row, and that was, of course, not quite an overdose, but definitely mighty doses of Pina Bausch that really changed my life. And the first movie I did afterwards was Wings of Desire, which by any standard was the most choreographed film I ever made. There was a circus, a trapeze artist… It was a very choreographed movie.

Golden Globes 2012 Nominations: 'The Help,' 'Midnight in Paris,' 'The Artist' and 'My Week With Marilyn' Lead the Way

Awards season is upon us. First up Next up: the 2012 Golden Globes! The annual event will be held on Sunday, January 15, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in California, honoring the best and brightest in both film and television. This morning, the nominees for the ceremony were announced by Sofia Vegara, Woody Harrelson and Gerard Butler. Who made the final cut? Both Michelle Williams (her third) and Meryl Streep (her 26th!) were nominated for Best Actress, whereas Brad Pitt (his fifth) and George Clooney (his seventh -- for film) made the Best Actor list. For a full rundown of nominees, check out the complete list ahead. BEST PICTURE, DRAMA 'The Descendants' 'The Ides of March' 'The Help' 'Moneyball' 'Hugo' 'War Horse' BEST PICTURE, COMEDY 'The Artist' '50/50' 'Bridesmaids' 'My Week With Marilyn' 'Midnight in Paris' BEST ACTOR, DRAMA George Clooney in 'The Descendants' Brad Pitt in 'Moneyball' Leonardo DiCaprio in 'J.Edgar' Ryan Gosling in 'The Ides of March' Michael Fassbender in 'Shame' BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA Viola Davis in 'The Help' Meryl Streep in 'The Iron Lady' Tilda Swinton in 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' Rooney Mara in 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' Glenn Close in 'Albert Nobbs' BEST ACTOR, COMEDY Jean Dujardin in 'The Artist' Brendan Gleeson in 'The Guard' Owen Wilson in 'Midnight in Paris' Joseph Gordon-Levitt in '50/50' Ryan Gosling in 'Crazy, Stupid, Love' BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY Michelle Williams in 'My Week With Marilyn' Jodie Foster in 'Carnage' Kristen Wiig in 'Bridesmaids' Charlize Theron in 'Young Adult' Kate Winslet in 'Carnage' BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Albert Brooks in 'Drive' Christopher Plummer in 'Beginners' Kenneth Branagh in 'My Week With Marilyn' Jonah Hill in 'Moneyball' Viggo Mortensen in 'A Dangerous Method' BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Berenice Bejo in 'The Artist' Octavia Spencer in 'The Help' Jessica Chastain in 'The Help' Janet McTeer in 'Albert Nobbs' Shailene Woodley in 'The Descendants' BEST DIRECTOR Martin Scorsese for 'Hugo' George Clooney for 'The Ides of March' Michel Hazanavicius for 'The Artist' Alexander Payne for 'The Descendants' Woody Allen for 'Midnight in Paris' BEST SCREENPLAY 'Midnight in Paris' 'The Ides of March' 'The Artist' 'The Descendants' 'Moneyball' BEST ANIMATED FEATURE 'Rango' 'The Adventures of Tintin' 'Puss in Boots' 'Arthur Christmas' 'Cars 2' BEST FOREIGN FILM 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' 'Flowers of War' 'The Skin I Live In' 'The Kid With a Bike' 'A Separation' BEST ORIGINAL SONG 'W.E.' 'The Help' 'Albert Nobbs' 'Machine Gun Preacher' 'Gnomeo and Juliet' BEST SCORE 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' 'War Horse' 'The Artist' 'W.E.' 'Hugo' For full coverage of the television nominees and more Globe news, head to Huffington Post Entertainment. For more on the Golden Globes and its illustrious history, head over to GoldDerby.com to find out some amazing Globe facts. 2012 Golden Globe Nominees Best Actor in a DramaBest Actor in a DramaBest Actor in a DramaBest Actor in a DramaBest Actor in a DramaBest Actress in a DramaBest Actress in a DramaBest Actress in a DramaBest Actress in a DramaBest Actress in a DramaBest Actor in a Comedy/MusicalBest Actor in a Comedy/MusicalBest Actor in a Comedy/MusicalBest Actor in a Comedy/MusicalBest Actor in a Comedy/MusicalBest Actress in a Comedy/MusicalBest Actress in a Comedy/MusicalBest Actress in a Comedy/MusicalBest Actress in a Comedy/MusicalBest Actress in a Comedy/MusicalBest Supporting ActorBest Supporting ActorBest Supporting Actor'A Dangerous Method'Best Supporting ActorBest Supporting ActressBest Supporting ActressBest Supporting ActressBest Supporting ActressBest Supporting ActressBest DirectorBest DirectorBest DirectorBest DirectorBest Director See All Moviefone Galleries » Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Diane Keaton Could've Dated Steve Jobs: 'What an Idiot I Was' (Video)

Donald Trump announced that he is backing out of moderating a Republican debate in Iowa on Dec. 27.our editor recommendsDonald Trump Scolds Michele Bachmann as Debate Implodes, Teases Return to Presidential RaceDonald Trump's GOP Debate: Rick Perry Becomes Fourth Candidate Who Won't Participate Why? Because the billionaire says he may still run. "It is very important to me that the right Republican candidate be chosen to defeat the failed and very destructive Obama Administration, but if that Republican, in my opinion, is not the right candidate, I am not willing to give up my right to run as an Independent candidate," Trump said in his statement. "Therefore, so that there is no conflict of interest within the Republican Party, I have decided not to be the moderator of the Newsmax debate." PHOTOS: 10 Hollywood Players That Will Make a Difference in the 2012 Elections Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum were the only Republican candidates who had agreed to appear at the Dec. 27 debate moderated by Trump. After the announcement came that Trump would be moderating the Dec. 27, some of the candidates, including Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman, expressed their belief that the debate was just for spectacle and refused to attend. "This isn't about ratings for Donald Trump; this is about jobs for the American people," Huntsman told CNBC when he announced he would not participate. Several prominent Republicans have reportedly urged candidates to skip the event. They predicted it would be a media circus and a distraction from important issues. PHOTOS: The Movies and Stars Dems vs. GOPers Love (and Love to Hate) On Tuesday morning, The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Trump, who admitted that he was wavering on his decision to moderate the debate. "The problem is the Republicans are afraid that if I run as an independent candidate, they don't want to have a debate and then have me announce that I'm running as an independent candidate," Trump told THR. Trump also told THR that he is still considering a run for president as an independent candidate. He told THR that he wouldn't make any announcements until after the finale of The Celebrity Apprentice. The new season premeires on Sunday, Feb. 12 and the finale airs May 20. PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery Box Office Politics: The Movies and Stars Dems vs. GOPers Love (and Love to Hate) Related Topics Donald Trump Politics

AFI Award Individuals who win: Dragon Tattoo, War Equine, J. Edgar Increase The Risk For Cut Special Honours For The Artist And Harry Potter

La, CA, December 11, 2011 The American Film Institute (AFI) today introduced the condition options of AFI Honours 2011 the honours season event liked by artists and entertainment professionals due to its closeness and collaborative recognition that records time most outstanding achievements in film, television together with other kinds of the moving image arts: AFI MOVIES Of Year Bridesmaids The Descendants The Woman While Using Dragon Tattoo The Help Hugo J. Edgar Evening amount of time in Paris Moneyball The Tree Of Existence War Equine AFI TV PROGRAMS Of Year Breaking Bad Boardwalk Empire Curb Your Enthusiasm Wager On Thrones The Truly Amazing Wife Homeland Justified Louie Modern Family Parks And Entertainment AFI SPECIAL Honours The Artist The Harry Potter Series

Secrecy bill can't silence SABC

CAPE TOWN - Picketing by disgruntled audiences, staffers and companies has become commonplace outdoors the South African Broadcasting Corp.'s (SABC) Gauteng HQ lately -- and shows no symbol of abating since the near-bankrupt pubcaster wrestles getting a string of ripoffs.Within the finish of November, the SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition proven as you're watching building, with the us government to axe SABC board chairman Ben Ngubane among accusations of staff corruption.The cash-strapped broadcaster, which works three channels, has received five leader authorities and three boards since 2007 which is presently missing someone else in charge, chief operating officer and chief financial officer.The picket within the SABC came a couple of days after Black Tuesday, when mass protests not successful to avoid the South African parliament from passing the safety of Condition Information Bill. This so-referred to as Secrecy Bill suggests that journalists and whistle-blowers may be jailed for 2-and-a-half decades for getting or disbursing information the us government has thought about classified, even if acting inside the public interest.Tensions within the SABC started getting a politically hired board in 2007.At any time when the SABC was losing advertising revenue, audiences as well as the production sector's trust, the pubcaster anxiously needed visionary leadership, but instead increased being involved in the political fight between then leader Thabo Mbeki and current leader Jacob Zuma, while using professional-Mbeki board fired by Zuma's parliament this past year.Through the economic crisis inside the 2008-2009 financial year, the SABC lost close to R1 billion ($124.5 million), and was expected to seek government guarantees of $186.7 million."Never-ending mismanagement, fruitless and inefficient expenditure, without any permanence in leadership remain a purchase throughout your day within the SABC," states Marc Schwinges, deputy chair in the South African Screen Federation (Sasfed), which signifies all of the film industry orgs.The pubcaster has received no apparent financial recovery plan since the government withdrew the 1% tax on personal earnings that funded SABC.In the present picket, SOS, formerly known to as Save Our SABC, complained the pubcaster had not clarified queries about numerous issues, including why the vacant professional positions was not filled.They ought to also know why pubcaster professional Justice Ndaba, disgraced to consider $30,600 for study and travel expenses, among other activities, was transformed by former mind Sipho Sithole, who formerly faced accusations that his private interests inside the music and film industries conflicted along with his role within the SABC.The coalition also requested the SABC's recently released Request Plans, its system for ordering in your town made shows. "This Year's and 2011 RFPs constitute merely a small proportion of certain requirements in new original programming to fulfill local content quotas," states Schwinges. SABC air a combination of children's programming, advertisements, imported series and several local general entertainment.Greater than 120 people collected to assist the coalition, including reps from Sasfed the Congress of South African Trade Unions which is affiliated unions and NGOs like the Freedom of Expression Institute, the legal right to Know Campaign, Media Monitoring Africa, as well as the Soweto Concerned People Assn.Responding, government communications minister Dina Pule supplies a war room to handle SABC crisis. She's pressing for your SABC turnaround plan to be performed by The month of the month of january. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Fox Business States Muppets Movie Anti-Biz

How did we miss this? Fox Business news around the network’s “Follow the cash” program a week ago opined that Disney’s The Muppets moviestoryline featuring an evil oil baron managed to get the most recent illustration of Hollywood’s anti-corporate liberal agenda. “They’ve been doing the work for many years. Hollywood, the left, the media, they hate the oil industry,” Gainor ongoing. “They hate corporate America. Which means you’ll see each one of these movies attacking it,” complainedDan Gainor from the conservative Media Research Center: