By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.6
Director: Jamila Wignot
Country: united_states
Year: 2021
Running time: 82
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13622084/reference
Chris says: “Dancer/choreographer Alvin Ailey pretty much gets the standard docu-portrait treatment here, as archival performance footage and interviews are blended in with modern day reminisces (often most satisfying when it contrasts performers from a half-century ago with how they appear now) and contemporary students learning various Ailey routines. What pushes it beyond these conventions are a series of low-fi but still fascinating audio interviews with Ailey wed to well-curated found footage artfully enhancing his words. Also, as someone previously unfamiliar with Ailey’s work, I found much of it to be absolutely breathtaking and timeless. As a film, AILEY, with its audio and visual choices, sympathetically complements the work, even if it can’t possibly match it. 3.75 cats
“Screened at the Provincetown International Film Festival ”
Michael says: “I’m not sure what drove me to watch AILEY, which I suspected would be a fairly standard dance documentary about the legendary dancer and cinematographer Alvin Ailey. I was thoroughly pleased to find that, although the film didn’t do anything terribly surprising, it told a beautiful, strong, poetic story with words and image that was more insightful and artistic than I had expected. With an abundance of archival footage Ailey’s company performing around the world, and with Ailey doing some of the narration himself through audio archives you really got a great sense of the man, even while there was so much in his life left unspoken. Many members for his dance troupe through the years, and choreographer who were influenced by Ailey, lend their perspectives as well. Most beautifully, it was through his dance compositions that I learned the most about the man. Tackling his faith, police brutality against blacks (nearly fifty years ago — how sad that it has changed so little) identity, the role of women, especially his mother, in his life, all of these things, as expressed through dance, painted the complex and stunning portrait of an amazing man. Dance is an artistic medium I enjoy, but know little about, but Ailey’s work was certainly captivating. It was nice that so much of it was featured in this film. 3.5 cats
“Screened at the Provincetown International Film Festival “