I found the scenes where we're watching ballet practice (the Bolshoi, or in Aix) to be very interesting. As an American, I found the European settings and atmosphere pretty compelling. But otherwise, this movie was unsatisfying and even boring at times for me. I honestly felt after watching that this was a niche film that would appeal primarily to students or aficionados of ballet, or folks employed in the field of dance.
In between the scenes of Polina rehearsing and taking dance classes, we see her becoming disillusioned, disappointed, lost. She spends the film wandering from one unsatisfying dance experience to the next. Ultimately she does seem to find a dance style that she enjoys, but by then I did not really care. I was just happy this tedious and unfulfilling journey was over.
If you read the IMDB user review by Teyss, that review does a good job of describing the movie. Some of the things Teyss admires, though, I found to be weaknesses in the film.
As far as the more unexplained or baffling incidents and scenes, well, I felt that I was supposed to understand something important about Polina from those moments, but I guess the importance eluded me.
