‘Polina’ Sways Between Drama and Dance

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Polina

The physical grace of a ballerina isn’t something that’s just a natural talent. It’s something that takes years and years of practice and honing of certain physical attributes to make the motion graceful and seamless to the naked eye. It’s a rigid world full of stern instructors, pushy parents, and snobby aficionados. You know, everyone’s a critic. The world of an aspiring ballerina is the setting for Polina, the new film from co-directors Valérie Müller and Angelin Preljocaj (also a choreographer). It’s a personal drama built upon the blood, sweat, and tears of its eponymous character, and how her dreams aren’t limited to what other expect of her. Sometimes Polina can be frustrating to an outsider to the world of dance, but when the film clicks it’s a marvel of visual poetry, one that allows the movement of its characters to speak louder than words.

When we first see Polina, she’s a young child in Russia and her physical attributes are being assessed right down to the smallest detail. If she’s to study dance under Bojinski (Aleksey Guskov), she’ll have to meet his standards. Older, Polina (Anastasia Shevtsova) is still studying dance and her family pushes her towards getting to the Bolshoi. However, the rigid world of ballet and the stern instructions of her teacher seem to push her away from the standard form of ballet. It’s not long before Polina shuns her classical training for modern dance, travelling to the south of France with Adrien (Niels Schneider) to learn under Liria Elsaj (Juliette Binoche). Once again, she inhabits a world of strict discipline and others exerting their control over her. Soon Polina finds herself adrift in Europe, wandering from country to country in hopes of making good on her training while staying true to her own ambitions. That leads her to some dark places, impoverished and working in a bar. And yet there’s always a sense of hope that maybe, just maybe she’ll be a dance that bedazzles.

Sometimes it seems as if Polina is about to take a wild and unexpected turn, such as the moment when armed thugs enter the family home and places a gun to her father’s head as a means to coerce him into some kind of illicit trade. These are the moments that can be somewhat frustrating with the film because you’re under the impression that this will be a moment of escalation, only it fades away to periphery. The best moments of Polina come from the character herself and her internal struggle to stay true to her artistic ambition, often to her own detriment.

Anastasia Shevtsova gives an assured performance and is given ample room to shine when the film places its focus on the graceful physicality of her dancing, the camera resting and allowing the young woman to majestically sway back and forth within the static frame. All of which takes us to the film’s stunning conclusion, a dance that blends the conclusion of the story with a fantastical setting, and a dance within the snow that is overflowing with stark beauty accentuated by the graceful movement of its dancers. For all the ups and downs of Polina, this final dance makes it all worthwhile, a culmination of the film’s emotional story unleashed in pure physical movement.

One doesn’t have to be enthralled by the world of dance to see the inherent drama of Polina and the struggle to remain true to yourself in the search of artistic expression. It’s not always a pretty or satisfying ride, but when Polina sets herself loose on the dance floor it’s impossible not to be enraptured by the visceral beauty and the grace of the movements.

Polina is exclusively playing now at the Nuart Theater in Los Angeles and will be expanding to other cities in ensuing weeks. 

Polina
  • Overall Score
3.5

Summary

A drama about a dancer’s struggle to find her artistic voice, Polina works as a personal drama and a dazzling work of various forms of dance.

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