FREDERICK WISEMAN PRESENTS LA DANSE - LE BALLET DE L’OPERA DE PARIS

Description from TIFF 2009 catalog by Thom Powers:

The documentary master Frederick Wiseman makes his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but he’s always had a thing for Paris. During the mid-fifties, he gave himself a film education in Parisian movie theatres while studying on the GI Bill. After returning to the United States and receiving a degree in law, he started directing documentaries. Beginning with Titicut Follies in 1967, he went on to make more than thirty-five feature-length films. Now seventy-nine years old, he ventures back to Paris for his latest documentary, La Danse – Le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris. If you love documentary or dance, this is happy news.

In this veritable feast of a Mavericks session, Wiseman will present the full 158-minute film, followed by an extended conversation about this new work and his career.

Wiseman has devoted the past four decades to studying institutions, making classics such as High School, Law & Order and Public Housing. He resists simple interpretations of his work. “If I could summarize it in twenty-five words,” he says, “I shouldn’t make the movie.” His typical working method is to spend several weeks embedded in an institution, with his long-time cinematographer John Davey shooting on 16mm. While editing the material, Wiseman avoids narration or text cards, and doesn’t force the events into a simple narrative arc. Rather than telling viewers what to think, he wants them to watch carefully and take away their own meaning.

In La Danse, Wiseman allows us to observe multiple corners of the Paris Opera Ballet, from rehearsal studios to costume rooms to administrative offices. We get extensive access to choreographers as they work with dancers in both classical and modern styles. You needn’t be a dance aficionado to marvel at the beauty and athleticism on display. Wiseman doesn’t ignore the reality that all this art costs money. He observes a marketing team as they strategize on how to give American benefactors something extra for their $25,000 contributions. For such a generous gift, they get to sit in on a rehearsal. Tagging along with Wiseman, our access is priceless.

About the director:
Frederick Wiseman was born in Boston and attended Yale Law School. He has directed over thirty-five feature documentaries and has received multiple awards, including the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago International Documentary Festival and the 2005 George Polk Career Award from Long Island University. His filmography includes Titicut Follies (67), High School (68), Law & Order (69), Ballet (95), La Comédie-Française ou l’amour joué (96), Public Housing (97) and La Danse – Le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris (09).

Visit Frederick Wiseman’s website:
http://www.zipporah.com/

Tell a friend about this film