I was remiss yesterday when I didn't acknowledge the passing of German dancer / choreographer Pina Bausch. May she rest in peace. I'll admit to some cultural ignorance about her career -- strange since I went through a whole modern dance obsession in college -- but I certainly enjoyed her contribution to my favorite director's Oscar winning film Talk To Her / Hable Con Ella.
Pedro Almodóvar does many things well as a filmmaker and one of those things is pulling you into the film's mood and temperament in the opening sequence. Here's Bausch's famous "Cafe Muller" dance and then the opening of Talk to Her. I'd say to compare and contrast but sometimes beauty like this has a way of defeating instant analysis.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
9 comments:
Karl Malden also died. What is it this week? If one of the de Havilland sisters kicks the bucket as well, I'll break down sobbing.
Yeah, I just saw on imdb that today's Olivia's birthday. 93 years old!
The beginning of Talk to Her is one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking pieces of cinema I have ever seen.
@I dream of Jeannie: don't jinx it! I actually felt a shiver reading your comment. Sending out mental vibes of good health to Olivia and Joan as I type...
If you're interested, there are some more videos of her work (along with an article about her) on the website of French-German channel Arte.
In French: http://www.arte.tv/fr/2730216.html
In German: http://www.arte.tv/de/2730216.html
(To choose a video, click on one of the three pictures)
To those of you who get Arte, they've also changed their programming for next sunday to honour Pina Bausch.
Ach Nathaniel, du bist sehr ignorant von Sachen die not von Amerika sind, du musst deine generale Kultur aufpumpen mit Büchern und Art Studien.
point taken alfred but being aware of your ignorance is the only way to change it. and i'm already aware ;)
I am deeply grateful to the cinema at any rate because it's how I know as much as I do know about other countries and cultures... which is admittedly not much but more than the majority of Americans know.
I don't mean that to sound superior just to reiterate that American culture is almost completely self-contained and self-referential.
Pina Bausch deserves esteem for her life and work.
The world lost great talent, the day Pina died.
Post a Comment