The really big decisions in life often fail because of the incompatibility of heart and brain, body and mind.
Elise’s dad knows that too, as he once wished that his daughter would study law in a middle-class way. Of course in vain. As a lawyer, she can strain her brain and not her body, she can practice a trained profession all her life and does not have to worry about the transience of her own beauty and strength. says the father.
But the daughter replies: That’s great, then I’ll have two lives, one physical and the other. She doesn’t think it’s great that her first life ends at the age of 26: Elise is a ballet dancer in Paris, a high-performance athlete who falls during a performance and is told by her doctor that the convalescence will take two years and after that she probably won’t can dance. So still law?
Of course not, because the latest work directed by French filmmaker Cédric Klapisch is a dance film – and as such it follows the appropriate genre conventions. Which is amazing since the stories of most (mainstream) dance movies come across as fairly flat and formulaic. The 61-year-old Klapisch also tells of a dancer’s shattered dreams, of dances that are as contradictory as possible (in this case classical ballet versus modern dance theatre) and a new start accompanied by a new love.
What do you do with yourself when your old life collapses completely?
However, “En corps” (the original French title) is not another “Step Up” or “Save the last Dance”. Klapisch is too interested in his characters for that, in their desires, weaknesses, quirks. Even in his earlier films like “Deux moi” or the “L’auberge Espagnole” trilogy, the plots were of secondary importance, he simply followed his characters, their trials and tribulations. At the same time, the director is fond of dancing. He has already shot at the Paris Opera and the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg, and for a documentary film he accompanied the ballet dancer Aurélie Dupont for years.
It also starts documentary, in the first 15 minutes you see Elise, played by the dancer Marion Barbeau in her first feature film role, at a Paris performance of “La Bayadère” (The Temple Dancer). She sits in the cloakroom mirror, roams through the scenes, does stretching exercises and takes the stage. A perfect performance follows, which makes the fall all the more brutal at the end. After that, the film and its actress have to get their act together again, both bobbing along aimlessly. Elise is at the physiotherapist, trains with a cast foot and visits her dad. She meets friends and earns extra money as a model. Her life up until now had been strictly scheduled, now she doesn’t know what to do with herself anymore.
The film picks up speed again when Elise takes a job as a kitchen hand at an artists’ residence in Brittany. A choreographer and his dance company stay there, and they work and dance in a completely different way than they used to. Their movements are energetic and ecstatic, as if their thoughts, emotions and aggression are flowing right through their bodies. “Your weakness is cool,” says the choreographer to the limping Elise, “Weakness is the new superpower.”
The Israeli-born choreographer Hofesh Shechter plays himself and is considered one of the most interesting figures on the international dance scene. Much like Klapisch, he seems to want to follow his characters more than the story. That’s good for the film, because Shechter’s works also create an enormous attraction on the screen. She thinks it’s great what this company does, says a ballet friend of Elise’s, but it’s not for her personally. The dance as a peaceful coexistence that appeals to heart and brain, body and mind. Even finds Elise’s papa. In the end, his daughter is alive, suffering and dancing on stage. And he’s crying.
En corps, France 2022 – Director: Cédric Klapisch. Book: Cédric Klapisch, Santiago Amigorena. Camera: Alexis Kavyrichne. Editing: Anne-Sophie Bion. With: Marion Barbeau, François Civil, Hofesh Shechter. Studio Canal, 118 minutes. Theatrical release: September 8, 2022.