Representations of Relations: An Homage
Pina – Wim Wenders,
2011
Wim Wenders’ Pina is an evocation that pays homage by
rendering the familiar uncanny, almost as possessed by the spirit of the
departed artist. The viewer’s access to the great dancer’s persona is
constantly mediated and constructed, in a reinforced maze of layered spaces, as
to both suggest and protect the unique sense of her presence that persists now
through her absence. This sense is re-appropriated by the dancers’ accounts which
we hear as we see them looking back into the camera – their thoughts however
are not in direct address, as their relation to Pina cannot be spoken but only
thought of and danced. These deconstructed interviews lead us to reconfigure
our process of perception through matching the aural element (the voice, the
accent, the meaning of the words) with the facial expression (the sadness,
melancholy, smile, thoughtful glances) and the name given in written title. The
viewer becomes thus active partaker in the re-construction of the interviewee
as a social actor that serves as channel for the communication with Pina.