En corps

Taking advantage of the mini French Film Festival at our local cinema (merci beaucoup !) I picked "Rise" with little enthusiasm but nothing else really appealed - I was hooked from the first ballet scene and I am not a huge dance aficionado. The doubly gifted Marion Barbeau is a pleasure to watch with her wonderful dancing and equally skilled acting. I know nothing of the technicalities of movie making but I thought this skilfully constructed with the storyline woven between some interesting contemporary dance - at times it was almost like watching a documentary about a modern dance troupe such was the natural 'acting' of the dancers. Brilliant from start to finish - another tour de force of French movie making !

"Art is Freedom." But even art can make you feel confined if it's not 'your' art. You can be good at something (art or not), but if it's not 'yours' it isn't freeing as it's supposed to be. This idea, along with people not being self-explorative (or in general), or not being able to afford exploration in this extremely competitive world and the importance of it is beautifully depicted in this movie. Tied with this, is the idea that setbacks in life can bring you unexpected opportunities. This is portrayed in interesting ways in the movie; in the title sequence, the music changes from classical to a more modern music as a glitch separates the two. Sometimes you'll come to understand that these are the opportunities you never knew you wanted, as if they were made just for you. This movie in my eyes, tries to convey these two major points. But it also has the classic theme of conventional and traditional ways being challenged by modern concepts that in comparison seem rawer and more freeing, and the inevitability of modernity outshining all. This can be seen through the relationship between Elise and her father, and the final scene with the line of ballet dancers. Being a fun and easy watch, I recommend this movie to anyone and everyone. And it might resonate with you as it did with me.

This film actually started promising with the ballet scene, but very early it was clear what is going to happen next. And After 20 minutes I knew exactly how it's going to end , and indeed no surprises. Everything I predicted happened.

I liked the photogenic like cations, and young people do look well on camera, but that's it. The reminder of this film was mostly looking like self promotion or documentary for the Israeli choreograph, and a lot of fillers in between the almost no existing plot.

So while the dancing parts are ok or entertaining at best, there isn't much else' to draw anyone in.

This film is Recommended ,I guess, for french people, who like to indulge on their high culture, or people who like modern dance. There is no much of actual film beside it.

What a fantastic tribute to dance, to creation, to the fact of reinventing oneself after a hard blow ! Cedric Kalpisch delivers a beautiful film reinventing his own cinema, making it "rise" to a high standard of aesthetics, which was not his best point so far.

First of all, let me underline the fact there is a clear pun in the French title "en corps" which would mean "into the body" or "by the body"... and again and again which is said "encore" in French.

For those who don't know much about the director of "en corps", Cedric Kalpisch has been a huge and popular French director of funny comedies in the 90's and the 00's. Some of Cedric Klapisch's main films became cult movies for my generation: The Good Old Daze, Family Ressemblances, or the Erasmus cult film called "Pot Luck" in 2002. Since then, it has been very difficult for him to renew his style, and reach his prime again.

For the first time in two decades, he's managed to find a new theme, a new style and has made a pleasant, interesting and beautiful film. That's why I allow myself a little review about it because it's really worth this time.

The film focuses on the physical, mental and sentimental reconstruction of its heroine, Elise, an injured dancer who must invent herself again at the age of 26. One of the feature of the film is the portrait of this heartbroken dancer, who is wisely played by Marion Barbeau who is quite convincing as a beginner actress . Another feature is of course the way he depicts the dance and the creation of contemporary dance, the energy of the dance itself, the freshness of the young dancers and their relation with classical dance. It's really fascinating and the participation of the Israeli dancer, Hofesh Shechter, is really a brilliant input.

The complex and suprising recovery of the main character reminds us that Cedric Klapisch knows how to portray complex, sensitive characters with broken and disturbed destinies. Despite a rather simple plot, you get surprises along the way and genuine laughters.

Her bleak fate (at the beginning) is enlightened by funny appeareances and the help of experienced actors such as François Civil (her physiotherapist) who is just hilarious,but also Pio Marmaï (the cooker) or Bruno Podalydès, (her father) who provide welcome humour, as well as depth in the story and above all they allow to have some hope for the rest of the film.

Klapisch really surprised me with the way he depicts the art of choreography (it's absolutely magnificient) in its various forms, aestitically speaking but most importantly respecting a fluidity in the film that allows us to be captivated by Eloise's fate throughout the film and understand it through dance moves.

En corps ("rise) is a fine way for Klapisch to renew himself, without denying himself. I am convinced it will be remembered as one of his most important films.

Very surprised by this music romance. Absolutely worth a watch! Watching it in French is even better, but if you like dancing, or music, it delivers on all of those fronts. Even got some amazing jokes in there! The actors are well balanced, the cinematography is actually very good, the story is compelling and the romance quite real and heartfelt.

My girlfriend thought the start was kind of cheesy, but i felt it was the intent of the director to present the life of the character as such. The theme of classical dancing is well explored in that way, and the way the beautiful Elise explores her young personality just gives that opinion an extra meaning.

I would recommend watching it with an open mind and a relaxed mood, it does a great job at transporting your whole being in this dancer universe!