Birds of Paradise

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.

The story of this movie does not exist, there are some moments of astonishment but nothing more.

There is no story to follow, there is nothing to rely on to make a plot twist, turning them into moments of wonder, which cause curiosity and are the highlight of the script. There is never a development of each character, there are many characters that end up discarding and the end is left to interpretation. However, there are things to highlight such as the performances, especially that of Kristine Froseth, the choreography and the coordination are good.

It's a shame that the talent of those involved is wasted by a script so lazy and boring that it says absolutely nothing.

This is very well shot with good camera moves. The score and production design help the experience so much and are effective. The storytelling is nuanced. The direction was on point. I really enjoyed the way the information was delivered.

The tone was great. Sometimes I expected it to go some ways but it surprised me.

Sometimes the movie moved between genres which I thought made the storytelling better and helped the experience. The performances were great too.

The choreography was amazing. It was beautiful but it also was a big part of the storytelling and was meaningful and symbolic and poetic.

It does what it wanted to do in an effective way imo.

This is personal but the movie made me think about greatness in our society, and what it even means. Maybe there are more ways to interpret the word. I think with paying attention it is not hard to understand it during the first watch, but I also enjoyed the second watch a lot too.

Considering the amount of fodder on Prime video, I was expecting mostly filler and there was a point where I asked myself what the movie was actually supposed to be about?

And did it rise above that and finally mean anything? No, it didn't, but I watched it all the way through and kept on hoping for something bigger and deeper, which is all you can ask for, even though you don't necessarily get it.

Beautiful people, not too cheesy, some pretty good acting, a few good songs and mostly great presentation. The film didn't try too hard and I liked it for its simplicity and eroticism and for not handing everything out on a plate.

An entertaining watch that failed to hit major highs because the core story just isn't strong enough, but still classy and subtle enough to maintain a steady 7/10.

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.