Aves del paraíso

Competition brings out the best in some people... but it can destroy others.

'Black Cygnet'.

This is very much what you would expect from a dark ballet story in terms of the rivalry, backstabbing, abuse, sex, drugs, etc. It has a dreamlike quality to it, wonderful dancing, and a cool setting though that keeps it somewhat interesting even when its not entirely original or unique.

This movie starts out promising, but from "save the last dance" to "black swan", it will remind you of all those scenes, some so alike it's not even funny. The cast is bland, the acting is bland, there are no great dance scenes as they are almost poorly filmed or cut. The end kinda saves it, and so does the contrived friendship between the two main portagonists, but that's about it. Watchable.

This could have been a really good film. A masterpiece even. I hate that it missed that chance because it didn't exactly know what to focus on, what message it wanted to put out there, it is giving me the feeling as if it was not edited right.

The film had its shining moments and the acting is superb especially Kristine Frøseth's performance - just wow. She is so believable in her portrayal of Marine.

But the rest of it, most importantly the storyline felt rushed, like there were too many things going on and not enough time to tell them. Themes and plots were being juggled all at the same time and it it did not come out well.

I wish the directiom and the writing have been focused on the darker themes of betrayal, self sabotage, the grit and competition, the mentality and toxic environment of ballet, if it was able to balance the themes well and have given it the time to simmer then this would be a legend of a film.

Instead I found myself confused having to digest new pieces of information about the characters watching it all unfold too fast whilst still trying to process what had happened a few scenes back.

The choreography is brilliant ut ther ewer enit enough dancing shown, the cinematography will take you there but then once you the story becomes lacking. We are gifted the chemistry of the two main leads but even that was not maximized.

It felt as though I went to eat at a restaurant expecting to have a good meal that will fill me but found the dishes uncooked and left feeling even hungrier.

The strongest part of Birds of Paradise is for sure the visual quality. Sadly, the story rides on every cliche regarding ballet I can think of (relationship drama, sex, drugs, total over the board resentment and competition, rich parents being emotional wrecks and evil entities, maestros with a notion to sadism, and I could go on and on). I just wondered the whole time when the girls (and boys) got time to do their study and training - remember, the setting is an elite dancer school. Also the questions between being an artist or following the rule of traditional classic dance is the wrong question - if I want to paint a piece in the style of Rembrandt I can't do action painting techniques - modern dance, classic dance, freestyle, whatever, it's up to you to chose the path you want to follow. I watched a few documentaries on the matter of elite ballet schools and groups and I did not get the impression that those dancers or teachers were maniacs, drug addicts and so on. Anyway, acting is good and the cinematography did hold my attention, was a real pleasure - last but not least, a better crafted and less stereotyped plot, and Birds of Paradise could have been a really good movie. Verdict: compared to Black Swan it is obvious that Birds of Paradise lacks of depth and originality story-wise. Exact rate: 5 + 1 bonus for the visuals only.