The Company
is a slice of life look at a dancer’s lifestyle. The story uses
the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago to bring to life a fictional dance
company. The dancers in the film are all members of the Joffrey
except for Neve Campbell who portrays Ry, the one fictional
character that has been inserted into this story that is actually
an amalgamation of true stories and experiences that were shared
with screenwriter, Barbara Turner.
CRITIQUE
I didn’t know
what to expect when I inserted The Company into my DVD
player. It’s a film starring Neve Campbell and directed by the
esteemed Robert Altman. I assumed that this would be another
underdog story along the lines of Save The Last Dance or
Fame, but what I got was a film that is shot in a similar
fashion to Lars Von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark, only
without the intriguing plot that Dark offered.
The Company
opens with a dance that involves deft handling of ribbons. It
continues on through the rehearsal process and eventual staged
performances of dances of varying degrees of difficulty. Throughout
the film we catch glimpses of what a professional dancer faces in a
typical day, the injuries, humiliation, and the exhilaration of
executing choreography perfectly.
Altman uses high
definition cameras to make the colors vibrant. During the rehearsal
portions of the film, natural lighting and sound is often used as is a
hand-held camera. The film becomes more staged once the final version
of the dances are performed. The cameras become steady, the lighting
becomes luminous and colorful, and the music swells. Altman’s
technique gives a documentary feel to the film. The audience feels as
if they are a bystander at rehearsals, and then as if we are a part of
the audience in the theaters.
Neve Campbell is
billed as the star, but the Joffrey Ballet Company is the real
standout here. This isn’t your typical underdog story with drama, and
the chorus girl does not become the star of the show. The film unfolds
in a way that feels as if the cameras just started rolling one day,
and then end another. There is a narrative thread, but it is a thin
one that is picked up and dropped, weaving in and out of events. Neve
Campbell begins as an ensemble dancer, and ends the movie as an
ensemble dancer. In fact, through most of the movie it is hard to pick
out which dancer Neve is. What I’m getting at is that she is not
featured in the dancing unlike most movies where the star blends in
with the rest of the cast.
While steps were
taken to make The Company seem like a documentary, my question
is: why not just make a documentary in the first place? The saying
goes that life imitates art and in The Company art is imitating
life. I always feel that fact is more interesting than fiction.
The Company
is a beautiful film to watch, but there is no plot to draw in the
audience. At the end of the film I felt as if I had sat through a
two-hour long ballet, and I confess, that is not something I would
normally choose to do.
THE VIDEO
The Company
is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The colors were
radiant. Occasionally the image was washed out a bit, but this was
due to the use of natural lighting and was a choice that was made
during the filmmaking process. This is a beautiful film, even on a
small screen.
THE AUDIO
The Company
is presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital with the option for French
subtitles. During the rehearsal process, the sound is very natural
and only came from the front speakers. However, during the
performance portions of the film the sound enveloped the room. The
single footsteps of the dancers were even audible.
THE EXTRAS
The Making
of
The Companyis
another behind the scenes look at the making of the film. There
are some on-set interviews with the cast and the director, but
this is pretty run-of-the-mill stuff today.
Extended Dance
Sequence:
This is an extended part of a rehearsal number that was edited down
for the film.
The Passion of
Dance featurette
looks as though it was filmed at the same time as the Making of The
Company featurette. This is mostly interviews with Neve and Robert
Altman. The two discuss the difficulty that dancers face in their
everyday lives along with the rigorous schedule and grueling amounts
of physicality that are involved in being a dancer.
Isolated Dance
Sequences from the film: This is all of the dances that were staged in the film
for dance aficionados to have easy access to.
Audio Commentary
with Director Robert Altman and Neve Campbell:
This is by far the most interesting part of the extras and to some
extent the DVD itself. Neve and Altman answer many questions as to
just exactly how they put all the pieces together that made the film
what it is. The two have great chemistry together, and seem like they
enjoyed working with each other.
The disc also
features eleven previews/trailers which include among others:
Mona Lisa Smile, Something’s Gotta Give, The Triplets of
Belleville, and
The Company.
FINAL THOUGHTS
While an
interesting film that is well crafted and shot, The Company is
a disappointment overall. Altman and Campbell talk in the extras about
how they wanted the movie to be true to life and I feel that the best
way to do that would have been to have shot a documentary. I admire
what they have tried to do, but unless you are a true ballet lover I
would steer clear of The Company.
