Pina review

Wim Wenders makes the most of the capabilities of 3D with this dance wonder

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German arthouse vete ran Wim Wenders’ tribute to late choreographer Pina Bausch exuberantly uses dance to flex 3D’s potential and 3D to make dance thrill cinematically.

StreetDance looks lead-footed next to Bausch’s astonishingly agile Tanztheater Wuppertal troupe gyrating through her playful, passionate routines.

Wenders loved Bausch but he stresses elemental themes and expressive physicality over reverence, using 3D to pull us in and minimize any sense of aesthetic detachment.

Talking-heads interludes weigh heavily on Bausch’s “legacy”, but when the extra-dimensional dancing is afoot, Pina all but spills out of the frame with vim and vigour.

Freelance writer

Kevin Harley is a freelance journalist with bylines at Total Film, Radio Times, The List, and others, specializing in film and music coverage. He can most commonly be found writing movie reviews and previews at 12DOVE.