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"Reset" -- Documentary on Benjamin Millepied and "Clear, Loud, Bright, Forward"


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Composer Nico Muhly may have come up with the title for "Clear, Loud, Bright, Forward," Benjamin Millepied's work for the opening and gala program of Paris Opera Ballet's 2015-16 season, but it might as well be the title of Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai's documentary about the lead-up and making of the ballet, "Releve," which I saw under the English title, "Reset," presented last night at SIFF's "French Cinema Now" mini-fest and introduced by PNB's Artistic Director, Peter Boal.  It was a near-perfect description of the Benjamin Millepied portrayed in the document.

 

Needless to say, "Clear, Loud, Bright, and Forward," inevitably clashed with the institution.  It wasn't just the bureaucracy, represented by the Director of the Opera, Stephane Lissner, who insisted that the money is better used for productions than fixing things in the theater that were broken, but also the carpentry shop head (?), a caricature of passive aggressiveness, who asked a question over and over, thinking he'd run out the clock to get the answer he wanted, and the dancers, even those among Millepied's chosen, who had it bred into them that suffering made them strong and only the weak speak up.  "Les bancs" (the benches) was one verbal theme; "Where's Benjamin?" was another, voiced continually by Millepied's assistant, the indefatigable former dancer, Virginia Gris.  (Following her hair and clothing would have made the documentary in itself.)   It's interesting that the villains in this case are more bureaucratic, and, with that always looming, there is assistant Benjamin Pech and a former dancer from the previous generation turned stage manager, who might quietly agree, but aren't stepping out on a limb, at least in this film.  They know the institution more intimately than Millepied, an outsider from Lyon and SAB.

 

The filmmakers stay away from making it gossipy -- unless this is gossipy for France, and I'm misunderstanding the cultural norms -- and lets what's being said, in words and/or in looks, sink in.  Natalie Portman is seen once, and if you look closely around his office, there's some art-made-for-daddy (by his son) on his bulletin board.  The lead dancers, particularly the current etoiles, who are said to be detractors, are rarely seen; if I remember correctly, only Aurelie Dupont, who's taken over for Millepied, speaks, and that's to a dancer in the piece, and she is positive and encouraging.  

 

When it comes to movement, the camera is all over the place: more is striking and beautiful, but there were some segments that made me sea-sick.  

 

The inevitable answer is voiced by Millepied's long-time friend from the Lyon conservatory where they both trained:  when it stops being fun, he will leave.  Millepied announced he would leave just months after the gala.  Which isn't to say the documentary shows him neglecting the administrative side, even if he didn't actively embrace it, although there was one scene where Gris tries to get information from him, and he is focused on what's playing on his laptop; I could only think of the movie "Big" where Elizabeth Perkins is trying to have a grown-up conversation with Tom Hanks, who is distracted by toys.  

 

However, when Millepied is joined by Nico Muhly, who alternates between a serious goofball and seriously serious, and the young conductor Maxime Pascal, who is channeling the music and the choreography, and then British lighting designer Lucy Carter and the team from United Visual Artists, even with the angsty question of whether Millepied could finish on time, the joy of working is infectious.   In the studio, Millepied is demanding in a quiet way, but he's also trying to encourage his dancers to move, and to move individually, contrary to everything that's been drilled into them as dancers at the lower levels.

 

I came away thinking it was a shame for the company that it didn't work out for him, but perhaps Dupont is a better transitional director to at least get the company into at least the beginning of the 21st century.  When Millepied premiered "3 Movements" for PNB, many people spoke of the resemblances to "West Side Story," and the same was true of the revival in the last two weeks, along with the last ballet Millepied made for Paris.  I think Millepied would have thrived in Robbins' situation at NYCB:  given a free hand with dancers, studio time, production resources, and musical collaborators, but, in his case, creating a positive environment to create and move.

 

I'm not so sure about the central pas de deux, which I liked better in rehearsal footage, but the corps works in "Clear, Loud, Bright, Forward" and the score make me want to see this ballet here, now.

 

 

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I ordered the DVD (available from Amazon.fr) and watched it over the weekend.

 

Knowing what we know now (regarding how the Benjamin Millepied era at the Opera would end unhappily), it's possible to watch this documentary with an eye toward what wasn't captured: the simmering revolt amongst the etoiles and premieres for being (in their view) sidelined in favor of 'Generation Millepied'. You see an etoile or premiere here or there but only Aurelie Dupont (who is seen speaking to the coryphée Letizia Galloni after a performance of La Fille mal gardee) and Benjamin Pech are shown prominently. Pech, in particular, is an interesting but noncommittal presence. He was doing double duty at this point: still on the roster as an etoile but working under Millepied as a ballet master. He maintains a low-key presence throughout the documentary, perhaps not wanting to be too tied to one faction or the other. (As things turned out [no pun intended], he has now moved to the Rome Opera Ballet, where his fellow etoile, Eleanora Abbagnato, is director of the ballet.)

 

As for the making of Clear, Loud, Bright, Forward, the documentary does give a superb look at 'Generation Millepied' -- none of whose members were ranked higher than sujet at the time. (Leonore Baulac and Germain Louvet are now etoiles and Hugo Marchand is a premiere danseur.) There are partial excerpts from the finished performance but, to see the entire thing, you can watch it via the link in another thread on this site.

 

I would agree with Helene that Millepied's Eve Arden-ish assistant, Virginia Gris, effortlessly steals every scene she appears in. And I'm in awe at how she sprints through the corridors of the Garnier in high heels! (I suppose it would be very un-French to put comfort [in the form of flats] over fashion.)

 

All told, Releve captures an interesting moment in the company's history. It would have been equally interesting if another documentary team had captured the preparations for the performances of La Bayadere, which, apparently, were Millepied's Waterloo. A second documentary like this would have been an important complement to Releve. 

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