Kirpianuscus
a film about dance. or about a young man who has only the dance as the only gift. about friendship. and about self definition . about duty. and choices. about a new life. and about the pressure of the past. "Five Dances" is one of films who respires out of script or performance. because each is just a tool for a noble idea. it is a simple story told with admirable science to explore each detail. a film about vocation. about fears and protection. and about love. and this does it not easy to be defined. because, maybe, it could be a sort of porcelain doll. beautiful. but fragile. and this does Five Dances special. because it is not a lesson or a pledge. it is only a story about facts who transform. the rest remains silence.
Paul Creeden
I am not a dancer. I do not go to ballet. I approached this film as a film because I was intrigued by the concept of combining quiet dance scenes with a plot and characters. In fact, I did not know there was a gay theme before watching. I am glad I did not.Ryan Steele (Chip) has done an impressive job as the central character. He has managed to convey the purity of a frightened adolescent while not seeming stupid. He infuses his character with the confused depth of a child whose single parent clings and psychologically abuses. If he has managed to do this with technique, I am impressed even more. My guess is that he drew this from within.Reed Luplau (Theo) manages to play the seducer without the jaded harshness of a beautiful gay dancer who has already been involved with other gay men. He plays a likable character with implied issues of his own. The formation of his relationship with Chip rings true. It is not cheaply melodramatic.Katie, Cynthia and Anthony are excellent as supporting characters. Well acted in each case. Each has some degree of individual relationship to Chip and Theo. Good writing. They could have been flat characters just there as background.The staging, lighting and music were excellent. The simplicity stunning and quite moving at times. This doesn't happen for me often with uneven production values of some indie films. All said, I was pleasantly surprised by this film, and then deeply affected by it.
movieloverpdx
I enjoyed this simple story about the intimacy and vulnerability that is experienced between a group of dancers (or any group of artists, for that matter). The main character was a gentle and torn soul. The cast did not appear to be professional actors, but delivered genuine performances. I found the soundtrack to be gorgeous (loved the Perfume Genius track)and well chosen. The cinematography was be impressive, though there was some strange editing, at times. An overall nice, sweet, and enjoyable film. My only gripe, and it's a small one, was that most all of the cast seemed to be on the verge of tears. This seemed to be a bit one-dimensional, but the mood shifted in the latter part of the film.
Do I Need To?
Being a dancer myself, I loved the fact that the film was centred around that theme, without needing to build a deep plot line. It told a story within itself. At times, it conveyed the characters' emotions possibly more than words could, it just fit, especially the piece nearer the end between Chip and Theo. I found it beautiful and emotional.I also really empathised for Cynthia when she's crying in her bathroom and we can hear her husband's voice in the background.I'm not sure what Chip's mum added to the storyline, perhaps it could have been replaced with more of a story line between the two men.The music was evocative at times, some I didn't like completely, I liked it when we just heard the dancers' breath and even when it was silent.Overall, it was a really enjoyable film, really emotional and it was brilliant when Chip started to connect with everyone else.
AD
