Directors: Will Gorski & Annsley Helenhouse
Running time: 11mins
Relevé is the fourth film submitted to Indy Film Library, where Will Gorski has been involved. Alongside We Are Denver North, it is also the second documentary he has helmed – and what is becoming clear is that this medium suits him best.
Both films commit what will one day be the treasured memories of young people to film, in a way which is in itself commendable. The more I age, the more I wish I had some shaky camcorder footage of early years to reflect upon my rickety performances in the annual school play – but the boys of the Southern California Ballet will be able to take a trip down memory road with a beautifully shot and soundtracked documentary by Gorski and Annsley Helenhouse.
The difference is, with Relevé, Gorski has added a marvellously tight edit to his skillset – with the 10 minutes zipping by, providing a sense of narrative cohesion, and points of emotional contrast in a way that mostly means its otherwise minimal examination of the topic is largely forgiveable. This is the last time I will directly compare the films, or attribute praise to either director specifically – as while Gorski is credited as the movie’s director, I cannot say to what extent he or Helenhouse should take praise for its other aspects.
Relevé follows a set of adolescent boys through a snapshot of their development as both ballet dancers, and human beings. Opening shots find them chattering loudly in a locker room, guffawing at each other’s jokes, and playing games on their smartphones – before a hush falls, and in chimes some beautiful, echoing saxophone. As they step into their ballet slippers, and enter into the cavernous space, the single instrument seems to reverberate around them, while Gorski and Helenhouse’s cameras capture the shapes they cast, sometimes displaying them in close-up, as slow-motion abstracts, sometimes capturing the synchronised collective, as they flow through their exercises.
The contrast here is pointedly noting: these are just regular boys, and it is normal for boys to do ballet. Instinctively, I did find myself feeling this was verging on cliché. After all, Billy Elliot was released more than a quarter of a century ago. “Are we really still talking about boys doing ballet with the qualifier of ‘normality’?”
Yes, is the unfortunate answer. And when interviewed, a number of the subjects sadly reinforce that point. One says his friends reacted with mockery when he said he did ballet, because “you’re a guy, why would you dance?”; though he convinced them of its merits by inviting them to his shows to watch. Another notes that while many of his friends know he dances, it can be hard to bring up, because “there’s a lot of judgement about it, especially for boys”.
The thing about this segment is, for want of a better phrase, I feel like Gorski and Helenhouse are dancing around the issue. What kind of judgement are we talking about here? I think most viewers could guess, but frankly, leaving it unsaid plays into the idea that being perceived as ‘feminine’ in any sense is something boys and men should overtly have to fear. By not further pushing the subjects on this matter, it also means that when one reaches a righteous conclusion – that ballet is good for them physically, mentally, and doesn’t hurt anyone, so (to paraphrase), “why the hell should I care what you think?” – it is slightly less empowering and impactful a moment than it should have been.
Beyond this, a lot of the conversations in the studio play along standard gender roles within ballet – and it might have been interesting to explore those alongside the other expectations levelled at these children by modern American society. The coaching they receive is still all about claiming space, about power, physicality and dominance through movement – which in the social norms of the USA, fit into that film’s opening that this is all perfectly OK and normal for boys to do to. But what if one of them wanted to dance a ‘feminine’ role traditionally held by girls and women? Would that suddenly not be ‘normal’ anymore? In my opinion it absolutely should be. And quite possibly, Gorski, Helenhouse, and the dancers and their tutor feel that way too. But the current format – and a reluctance to delve a little deeper on questions of gender norms – mean that feels more open to interpretation than it perhaps should.
All that being said, this is still an accomplished piece of documentary filmmaking. As spectacle, the dancing – imaginatively shot, and given a gliding, graceful atmosphere by the haunting music of H Hunt and Nala Sinephro – is right on, while as an examination of art and gender norms, its heart is in the right place, and that still counts for a lot.