The Company

Robert Altman is an unusual filmmaker. Many of his films–Pret a Porter, Gosford Park, The Player–introduce you to a world that seems to have a life of its own. The characters in the film seem to live before and after the film’s events, and yours is a tiny window into their lives. The Company, which invites us into the world of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, is one of these films.

Altman eschews many of the conventions of Hollywood. His films are episodic, atmospheric and light on plot (sometimes even light on story). Events occur for no apparent reason, we witness a conflict but not its outcome, or a watch a resolution but never see the set-up. In this way, his films mimic real life. Additionally, Altman refuses to editorialize on his subject matter. The characters exist, events transpire, things happen, and we never really know how he feels about them.

I really appreciated how the film was so unlike Showgirls. All of the cliches that you’d expect–the backstage back-stabbing, the fraught diva, the up-and-comer who overcomes injury and steps into the limelight–are nowhere to be seen. I wouldn’t want every movie I see to be Altmanesque, but they’re a refreshing change of pace.

This project is a labour of love for Neve Campbell (yet another lovely Canadian), and she’s got a credit as a producer. Unlike Monster, however, this isn’t an actress’s tour-de-force ego trip. She plays a part in this ensemble film, while some events centre on her, the movie isn’t all about her. While she does dance some solos, there are many dances in which she’s a background figure or that she doesn’t appear in at all. She made a wise decision in securing Altman to direct, for he tends to take the ‘star’ out of the movie star.

Campbell danced with the National Ballet of Canada, and didn’t seem out of place. I attended the movie with somebody who was far more familiar with dance, and she thought Campbell acquitted herself very well. Besides Malcolm McDowell as the queenly artistic director and James Franco as the minor love interest, the rest of the cast are real members of the Joffrey Ballet. This works for most of the film–the dancers are natural peformers. The seams do start to show when the stakes are raised and they come into conflict.

Because of this (and the dedication of his screenwriter), the film resonates as a very true portrayal of life in the performing arts. The artistic director as dictator, the fellowship of the players, the physical suffering of the dancers–it all seems very true and natural. I’m reminded of what David Mamet said: ‘a life in the theatre is a life spent giving things away’. This is true both in the dancers’ selfless dedication and their dodgy, cramped apartments.

There is plenty of dance in the film–too much, I think. I was more interested in the goings-on of the company. Additionally, the dance sequences were, for the most part, far too static for my liking. There seemed to be endless tracking shots from about the third row in the audience. Here Altman’s lack of familiarity with the art form was apparent. That said, there’s a pas de deux with Campbell and one of the Joffrey principles to the Kronos Quartet’s ‘My Funny Valetine’ which is strikingly beautiful. Few directors have better composition that Altman.

I probably only see one live dance show a year. Sometimes it’s ballet, other times its modern dance (what I sometimes refer as ‘way too much wriggling’). In terms of Altman’s style and the film’s content, I knew what to expect. For the casual viewer, the camera provides a dynamism which makes the dance sequences very watchable.

The Company was preceded by a three-minute short film. It was part of Shadow Pleasures, a collaboration of former ballerina Victoria Tennant and (one of my favourite) author Michael Ondaatje. It was a gorgeous, senuous dance piece accompanied by Ondaatje reciting his wonderful poem The Cinnamon Peeler. Besides this brief mention, I can find little else on the Intarweb about it. Apparently the full version will premier on CBC-TV on March 11.

Here’s what the other critics thought of the film.