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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Should be REQUIRED Viewing for Everyone, July 11, 2005
This movie may be about the urban phenomenon of krump and clown dancing but it is truly about so much more. The opening scene is old footage of the Watts riots and this theme of the cultural and social background of the kids that participate in this new art form is the thread that holds this movie together. Lachapelle is an amazing photographer and he brings his keen eye to the screen. This is a visually stunning movie without a doubt. But he brings his sensitivity to the social issues as well. He lets the kids and the community speak for themselves. It is often sad enough to get you crying but never despairing. There is such passion and self-awareness in these kids and in their dancing. The movements alone can elicit tears, and awe. There is a disclaimer at the start of the film stating the film was not sped up at any point. It is an important thing to state because you cannot believe how these dancers move themselves. Kids as young as 4 and 5, people in all shapes and sizes, all expressing their passion, anger, love, pain, humour with their bodies. Lachapelle makes sure to make all the links for you, from revival gospel links to African ritual dance, as well as the urgency this new subculture has driving it. It is plainly stated that these clown and krump crews have taken the place of gangs for many of the people involved and turned into non-violent gangs of their own. But it is also understood by the audience, the director and the people themselves that what they are now embracing has none of the violence or destructiveness that the gang life held for them. This is a changing movie, capable of true connection to any audience member. The emotions conveyed by the dancers coupled with the implied social commentary by the director (thankfully he only allows his voice to be heard a very few times, important to keep the flow in this movie) are so pure and direct that you do not need to be "of" these groups to feel what they are trying to say. I highly recommend it for everyone. I brought my 12 year old daughter, there is very little that would be objectionable to kids over 8. Under 8 kids just might not get it. There is some "stripper" dancing, but all clothes remain on. I did not notice alot of swearing even.
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50 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Love the subject, hate the director, February 17, 2006
OK, much as my brother Jeffrey Mingo deserves props for his reviewing skills, I have to disagree with some of the praise heaped upon RIZE.
Now, don't get me wrong. The parts of the video that concentrated on the dancers were great. I particularly liked the way that Dragon, Lil C, Miss Prissy and Tommy the Klown got a bit of screen time to tell PARTS OF their stories.
The dancing itself was great too. No, make that totally awe-inspiring. I have no problem with that either.
My problems come from looking at the way David La Chapelle treated his young black subjects.
Too often, we applaud ANY representations of black youth that are in ANY way positive. But the problem here is that La Chapelle repeats a common trope among white middle class culture vultures (and I use that word deliberately): he reduces young urban working class "minority" kids to spectacle and surface.
The only person in the film able to break through that framing was Marquisa Gardner (Miss Prissy) who was able to convey a much more nuanced picture of some of the challenges and glories of her life despite La Chapelle's trite underlining of the "life in the ghetto is hell" motif. Ms Gardner's humanity shines through because of her personal charisma and talent at talking to the camera, rather than any empathy or delicacy on La Chapelle's part.
La Chapelle also repeats the old saw that the "cool" way to succeed is to be part of the entertainment industry. This is perhaps a highly-visible attitude amongst youngsters but it's a totally wasted opportunity to showcase a way of using dance as a way to rize in a more than simply metaphorical sense.
As a fashion photographer, La Chapelle has a long history of reducing black people to beautiful ornaments (like much of the work of Herb Ritts as another example). His photo shoots of Naomi Campbell in particular stand out as particularly mean-spirited examples (and I'm no big fan of Naomi's diva attitude, believe me).
As an anthropologist, I also have particular problems with the way he intercuts footage of Nuba wrestlers shot in the 1930s with shots of modern krumpers. On a very broad level, it is true that krumping (like ALL modern forms of African American dance) has commonalities with traditional dance forms found in Africa. But he gives us no sense of how this "dancing" is located in a particular context or culture. There's no sense of the importance of dance as an integral part of the way people prayed, honored the achievements of others, competed with others, made political statements and asserted their social status. Instead it's just presented as "savage dancing".
In the same way, RIZE often presents its LA subjects on _just_ the acceptable side of the same idea: The voice-over assertion that: "It's in their blood" seems a little too close to the idea that "Black people are just naturals for singing and dancing". This stupidity reduces the genuine skill and talent of the dancers to a matter of mere genetics. We don't need another reprise of Vince Sarich's tired racialist thinking.
In addition, this kind of simple-minded exoticism obscures the real stories behind the genesis and development of African American culture and the real complexity and richness of dance in both Africa and the New World. Just because kids from systematically segregated and historically anti-Black school systems aren't taught much about their history, that doesn't let privileged (and presumably educated) middle class film makers off the hook.
For more detailed and pointed criticism, visit the blog Rae's Spot. This sister has it right on point.
These days Black youth are being offered a great deal of money and a certain kind of temporary cultural prestige to become highly visible mannikins for a vicious and predatory consumer system that offers most of them almost nothing in return (beyond some jewelry and a few clothes). When you reduce black culture to a music video, you do nothing to counteract that. In fact, you're part of the problem.
Don't. Don't. Don't believe the hype.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You can't explain it...you just got to see it, November 21, 2005
This documentary has everything that some of the other so called urban "dance" movies lack ("honey", "You got served" most recently") which is authentic and inspiring real life characters. These kids are going through their own struggles, but instead of getting caught up in the gang lifestyle, they have created a positive expression which as far as i could tell could leave them with very little energy for getting in trouble.
The most interesting are the 'clowns' whose facepainting and frenetic, aggressive dance hearkens back to the African tribal rituals. (This in itself could make an interesting anthropological study because they claim to never have been exposed to the tribal dancing and were surprised at the uncanny similarity in moves and styles themselves) The clowns were the originators of the dance movement, and Tommy the Clown is the father of it all. Fortuneately, the clowns seem to enjoy some immunity from the local gang pressures as they traverse the hood in clown makeup and dress. This makes them a refuge for the youth wanting to avoid the gang lifestyle
There is another group called the "Krumpers" who seem to be dance rivals, which is brought to climax at a "battlezone" the highlight comptetition in the film.
This does not seem so much a new style to me, as a mixture of lot of urban styles just thrown together at breakneck speed. There are elements of locking, poppin, a little breakdancing, MC Hammer, new style, that stuff you see in Sean Paul videos, and 'stripper dancing' which is basically just booty poppin, etc etc all done at high speed with not so much focus on individual moves, but just a crazy arm flailing stutter stepping loss of inhibition. Some of it looks a little repetitive and not that difficult (if your in shape), but some of it is eyepopping incredible. Part of the visual appeal is the sheer energy being expended. You would definetly risk injury if you got too close.
It is unfortunate when you see the enmity that arises from the battlezone competition. But unfortuneately the competitive element is always been part of urban dance. Instead of being treated like an art form to just be showcased and appreciated, it has to be a one-up-man-ship contest, with lots of taunting and selfindulgent chestpounding egoism.
What I really did appreciate is how many of the characters are shown to return to the church and faith in Christ, and using their dance to glorify God. The scene of the praise dancing in the church near the end is beautifully moving and powerful.
Perhaps most interesting to me, I couldn't help feeling there is a certain underlying tension throughout the movie with the recognition that this "Krumpstyle" dancing is undeniably a deep spiritual and cultural expression and (though it is being utilized in a positive way for the most part) how it fits with the Christian faith that some of the main players profess. An interesting point of debate is what is the nature of the spirit that inspires the dance in the first place. As a dance enthusianst and Christian, I admit there is a blurry line where it crosses into hedonistic sexual suggestiveness, with booty poppin being way past the blurry part. I would have been curious to hear the opinions of some of the main characters on this topic, but it is not brought up. Possibly because LaChappelle, as you can see on the special features, is somewhat obsequious around the cast, and probably did not want to make them crawfish about the subject. Now that I think about it, it is really an obvious omition: gospel music is played over footage of dancing at both ends of the movie! And what did the older church folk featured think about it all? who knows...
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