A Year in Shorts Day 90: "Flamenco at 5:15"

Much like propaganda films, documentaries can occasionally be tricky to review. After all, if a film’s primary purpose is to inform, should how well it does that be the primary criterion by which to judge it? I would say no. After all, documentaries are an art form, and there’s more to gauge them by than just how educational they are. At least I hope so, otherwise I’m probably being a little unfair to Cynthia Scott’s Flamenco at 5:15.


(via IMDb)


Another production by the National Film Board of Canada, Flamenco at 5:15 covers a group of ballet students taking flamenco classes as part of their senior year. If you want to watch a movie about people learning to flamenco dance, you're going to be in for a good time. If you're looking for a little something more... well, you're out of luck.



I don't know. There's nothing particularly wrong with this film- it's educational, watching people dance is fun, and there's some decent cinematography throughout. So as an educational film, it's fine. But viewed as a film, there's really not much else to it. Part of me thinks the film might have been improved without any narration or interviews, or any dialogue whatsoever. Just clips of people dancing set to music; those sorts of films are very artistic and often very compelling to watch. Plus they're shorter!

But hey, if you like this film (or think you might like it), don't let me rain on your parade. There are certainly worse ways to spend your time. And hey, it won an Oscar, so it must have done something right!


Keep up with the Oscar Baiting here on Letterboxd!


The Great Oscar Baiter is a not-for-profit work of criticism. All images herein are property of their respective owners and are protected under Fair Use.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Song of the Week #15: "Take My Breath Away"

Image
I’ll put myself on a consistent schedule for these things one day, I promise. In my defense, there are a lot of movies to catch up on, and isn’t that what Oscar Baiting is all about? For instance- until recently, I’d never seen the original Top Gun! But with Top Gun: Maverick holding its spot as the biggest hit of the year (probably only to be dethroned by Black Panther or Avatar ) and even potentially soaring into the obligatory crowd pleaser Best Picture slot, I figured it was time to see where things began. Because while the Oscars Top Gun: Maverick may win have yet to be decided, the first Top Gun only went home with one- for the love theme, “Take My Breath Away.” (via Wikipedia) Love themes for films have gone a bit out of style these days, although for a long time it seemed to be a surefire way to nab a Best Song nomination. Seriously, look through the Wikipedia article and count how many times you see "Title Seemingly Chosen at Random (Love Theme from Movie You Didn...
Read more

Song of the Week #6: "The Ballad of High Noon"

Image
I was finally able to catch Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast this weekend, and I have to say it certainly lived up to the hype. There’s a lot to love about this movie, from the gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, the exquisite performances from both the seasoned veterans and newcomers in the cast, to a script that’s brimming with heart and humor. But one aspect of the film I don’t see a lot of people mention is the way it incorporates footage from other films- most notably Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon, using not only a scene from the movie itself but scoring two pivotal scenes with the film’s theme song, the aptly-named (and Oscar-winning) “The Ballad of High Noon.” It was a bold choice to be sure, but who could blame Branagh? It’s a great movie, and a great song- and the subject for today’s installment in Song of the Week. (via Wikipedia) For those of you haven't seen High Noon... well, you really should get on that, it's a classic! Aside from being a taut, tightly edited thril...
Read more

Song of the Week #14- "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"

Image
I was watching Belfast with my friend last week, and- like all great films- it raised a lot of questions. Questions like, “Hey, remember the last time I watched Belfast and was inspired to write a blog post because of it ?” and “Hey, why haven’t I written anything Oscar Bait related in a while?” Well, luckily for all of us “The Ballad of High Noon” wasn’t the only Oscar-nominated song featured in Belfast. Unluckily for us, that other song just happens to be “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” (via Wikipedia) Readers of this blog will hopefully remember that I love a good movie musical. Sadly, those were few and far between in the 1960s. Oh sure, movie musicals certainly had a brief resurgence in those days. Many of them were big hits, both critically and commercially. Hell, Best Picture went to a musical on four separate occasions in that decade! But how many of them were actually any good? Not a lot. Oh sure, The Music Man is great fun and Mary Poppins is a classic. But far too many mu...
Read more