94% Pina

All Critics (70) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (65) | Rotten (5) | DVD (1)

Pina is a tribute of an artist by an artist, a friend to a friend. But its great genius comes from the mournful, as well as celebratory, reckoning of the performers Bausch pushed, collaborated with and inspired.

What might seem like a convenient bid for publicity - the first 3-D art-house film! - turns out to be the only logical way to showcase the action.

This meditation on movement and space, transportation and transcendence is not to be missed.

What the filmmaker has created is an inspired simulacrum - a jewel-box that contains more of Bausch's kinetic soul than film has any right to.

Crane and steadycam allow Wenders to get so close to the action that in the minimalist Caf? M?ller, one's illusion of being on stage is uncanny.

"Pina"is the best possible tribute to Bausch, and to adventurous image-making.

Sans 3D, Pina becomes a more unified work of undisputed merits, a passionate, fitting tribute from one of Europe's preeminent filmmakers and documentarians.

Pina is as rich in imagery and emotion as any film released this year and in some cases moreso.

This seems like a ripping good idea. In practice, "Pina" turns out to have a few problems.

Suggests thrilling new possibilities for the marriage of movies and dance.

Wenders, who so wanted to see the world through Pina's eyes, has done something even better. He's allowed posterity to see her world, and in a way as breathtaking as the work itself.

Even for someone who would rather count sheep than attend a ballet, these scenes are nothing short of astonishing, beautifully presenting dance's ability to depict words.

A milestone in dance and 3D filmmaking.

You won't hear the names Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, Paul Taylor or Bob Fosse breathed herein.

An exhilarating experience, both in its celebration of Bausch's groundbreaking work and in the thrilling way that Wenders captures it on camera.

It's not an overview of Bausch's career or a statement on her art, but a celebration of her work and the dancers who bring it to life.

This is a stunning film, a glorious homage to modern dance and one of its premier authors and the best justification of 3D technology to date.

With a breakout use of 3D for artistic rather than solely commercial blockbuster purposes, German director Wim Wenders gives extraordinary life to the work of choreographer Pina Bausch.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pina_3d/

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