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2019 has produced a large number of excellent documentaries in a variety of styles, all telling true stories about people. But there hasn’t been anything quite like Alla Kovgan’s “Cunningham,” an exhilarating testament to documentaries as a limitless form of art in the past decade. It is a celebration of New York-based choreographer Merce Cunningham, and the film dreams beyond the limitations that many visual storytellers seem to abide by. With a narrative that provides only a few details about Cunningham’s life and a focus on his otherworldly dance routines, which are accompanied by flourishes from 20th century avant-garde music, “Cunningham” honors the tools of filmmaking — sound, action, and dialogue — through the harmonious blending of three art forms — music, dance, and poetry — that Cunningham pioneered.
The first words spoken by Cunningham are critical not only to understanding his art, but also to appreciating Kovgan’s film as a whole. “I’ve never been interested in dancing that referred to a mood or a feeling, or that in some way expressed the music… the dancing does not refer, it is simply what it is….” “It’s the whole visual experience,” says the author. That statement lays out a path that most art does not: don’t interpret what you are seeing. Simply keep an eye on things. Intoxicating, liberating, and inviting state of mind, and it’s ideal for a film in which the immense pleasure comes from witnessing continually inspired creativity, delivered simultaneously by an intentional debut director and an instinctual renowned choreographer, as in “The Dancer.”
In place of a traditional narrative structure, Kovgan presents Cunningham’s life as a series of performances, in which we occasionally get to see footage of him performing one (sometimes with close-ups of his massive feet), as matched with a contemporary dancer (more specifically, a member of the last Cunningham group). The performances are presented in chronological order and cover his career from 1942 to 1972…. (Cunningham created until 2009, the year he died at age 90).
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While the film is primarily concerned with the philosophy behind Cunningham’s dances, Kovgan’s editing does create some narrative, with audio snippets of students talking about their time studying with Cunningham and later forming a troupe that went on tour in 1964, traveling to Europe and Asia (where their audiences were not always enthusiastic). One of the most interesting aspects of the story revolves around his relationship with avant-garde composer John Cage, as well as reflections from students on how they can get on Cunningham’s wavelength of instinctual movements that come with no rational explanation. You could argue that Kovgan’s film lacks sufficient connective tissue between some of these story elements, but “Cunningham” is never content to be satisfied as a straightforward biography in the first place.
Cunningham Quiz
Cunningham’s most famous collaborations are discussed in the film, including his work with John Cage’s cathartic cacophony of music, Robert Rauschenberg’s pop art, and Andy Warhol’s silver clouds, which are metallic balloons shaped like pillows. There are numerous collaborators who aren’t even mentioned (Brian Eno, Radiohead, Roy Lichtenstein), and the same can be said for Cunningham’s accomplishments and awards. However, the historical context is not overlooked; his work stands on its own as a masterpiece. Even archive practice footage feels like it belongs in a museum when it is in Kovgan’s hands.
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In “Cunningham,” the past and present are actively considered, as evidenced by the use of audio interviews with Cunningham discussing his approach, which are intercut with contemporary footage of dancers enacting the philosophies of his words. For example, one of our first scenes shows a large empty space with windows for natural light to paint the floor, with dancers in pastel-colored leotards being observed by a steady camera that gently moves back and forth with them. The dancers have a precise flow, and the ease with which they can express themselves with their entire bodies is just one of the many eye-catching aspects of their performance. Beyond Cunningham’s words (about his interest in “extending movement possibilities” by combining dance and modern ballet), moments of silence are filled with a near-meditative sound of feet landing on the floor and swiping across the surface. Each of the aesthetic pieces on display commands the audience’s attention, and the result is an addictive spectacle.
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Other routines that follow include more sounds, more props, and more footage from the movie. Three dancers in nude-colored, torn tights kick around Warhol’s silver clouds in Cunningham’s “RainForest,” which premiered in 1968 and was accompanied by experimental squeaks by David Tudor. The piece is set on a reflective floor and is accompanied by experimental squeaks by David Tudor. In its preservation of his work, “Cunningham” presents one impressive staging after another, such as a piece with dancers in the woods or a piece performed on a rooftop in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, Kovgan’s camera takes on a life of its own, occasionally looking down on the dancers, sometimes running side by side with them, and sometimes focusing on the dancers’ surroundings.
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Despite the fact that this is Kovgan’s first feature film, her approach to presenting her vast collection of footage, photographs, and letters is far superior to that of many of her peers. In a world where most filmmakers would cut from one clip to the next, Kovgan takes the risk of placing her footage side by side, slightly overlapping them like photos dropped on a table, or even moving the clip itself across the screen. The information contained within “Cunningham” is constantly in motion, in contrast to documents that appear to begin and end with each talking head. When archive footage is shown as a smaller box with a larger, defining photo of Cunningham in the background, a similar kinetic effect occurs—similar to watching a video with your computer’s desktop visible in the background, but the two boxes orchestrate a grandiose sense of character with a full, striking image (Kovgan’s approach is more like the 21st century storytelling in a “Unfriended” movie than a typical documentary). As with Cunningham, who was clearly gifted at filling a stage with ideas without having to explain what they all meant, Kovgan proves exceptional at making an audience understand a subject through unconventional filmmaking, just as Kovgan proves exceptional at making an audience understand a subject through unconventional filmmaking.
For more personality quizzes check this: Jiang Ziya Quiz.
