By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.6
Director: Bess Kargman
Country: united_states
Year: 2012
Running time: 90
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2008513/
Diane says: “How long is it now that we’ve been watching docs about kids in competitions? Is there no end?
FIRST POSITION follows half a dozen kids, aged 11 to 17, in their quest to score in the Youth America Grand Prix of ballet–either with an award, a scholarship, or a place in a company. Director Bess Kargman isn’t as interested in the art of ballet as she is in the struggles of kids who are driven to dance. Not enough dancing for me, and the editing of performance pieces results in mismatched music and choreography. There are superficial and distracting sections about injuries and anorexia that the director made have felt obliged to include. FIRST POSITION sort of made me want to dance. 3 cats”
Toni says: “I enjoyed learning about the stories of each of the children. Such dedication with each child coming from a different background. Ballet of not my thing yet I have a new appreciation for it. The youngest kids were the ones I was rooting for the most which such charm; however, the brother and sister with the overbearing mom and down to earth yet sassy instructor provided nice comic relief. The brother was more of a silly kid being forced into ballet while his sister was very serious about it.
“The kids don’t make it look easy like in some docs when you see all of the injuries that occur…I also think the director did a nice job balancing each of the children’s stories. Since films like Spellbound, there have been many competition docs out there and some better than others.
“I think this is one of the better ones…it is heartfelt but not over the top. I would give the film about 4.5 cats
“We also interviewed the cinematographer and associate producer on this and other work, Nick Higgins.”
Thom says: “Every now and again along comes a film that not only far surpasses my expectations but actually gives me new realizations about the world in this case classical ballet as a fully-realized artistic form. Of course, I’ve seen and loved innumerable dramas and documentaries about ballet, all the way from THE RED SHOES to BLACK SWAN in dramatic presentations and so many docs about kids, competitions, schools, Russian dancers, training, coaches, and all other aspects of dance. In this stunning documentary the first-time director Kargman follows six teens from all over the world as they prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix in New York that awards scholarships, internships, and even contracts to prestigious ballet
companies around the world. We’ve seen this approach a million times for all sorts of competitions and as well as it’s done here, it’s finally the dancers chosen that won me over. Still, all of this could have only produced a memorable film, not a great one. What brings it over the top is one small dance sequence that lasts only two minutes that I went completely gaga over. I’ve watched the scene seven times now I was so bowled over. Other than that I’ll keep my mouth shut as I know what spoiler means. 5 cats”
Julie says: “I think I know the performance of which you speak – well -there are a few that are really incredible. I still have the
movie as I want to go back and look at the competition – I think it’s great that they added all that but time consuming when trying to get in my last movies to see so I’d put it aside. But yeah the dancers where just incredible and all so different. It was pretty exciting to watch even though we’ve seen this type of film before – yes – It just seemed so obvious at some points what would happen in some cases but then you just never knew as things unfolded so it kept me at the edge of my seat when they picked the winners. 5 cats”
Beth C. says: “Just so you know, I give it 5 cats as well, and I can speak for my 2 new Ithaca members, Seren and Becca who agreed: 5 kitties apiece!”