Very Cool!!!

One of my all time favorites.

Admirable film.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

a film about dance. or about a young man who has only the dance as the only gift. about friendship. and about self definition . about duty. and choices. about a new life. and about the pressure of the past. "Five Dances" is one of films who respires out of script or performance. because each is just a tool for a noble idea. it is a simple story told with admirable science to explore each detail. a film about vocation. about fears and protection. and about love. and this does it not easy to be defined. because, maybe, it could be a sort of porcelain doll. beautiful. but fragile. and this does Five Dances special. because it is not a lesson or a pledge. it is only a story about facts who transform. the rest remains silence.

I'm sorry I had to give this movie 4/10. It started off very nice, with some background story of the main character told in a subtle way, some development, but as soon as I saw the scene where they get intimate for the first time, I knew it wasn't worth watching it. The first contact is very important, there should be a whole story of both characters leading to the intimate interaction - glances, sighs, movements, gestures etc. The whole story leading to that moment can be a lot more intriguing, beautiful and spectacular than the moment itself. Here it had no proper character development, one sided approach, all of a sudden one of them starts groping another one and after being groped he consents to being kissed! What!? This is very vulgar. It's like you give a female co-worker a pat on her butt-cheeks and then she doesn't resist kissing you. No matter how the movie evolves after that, the movie is lost to a more or less sober and mature viewer. If you want to know how to develop a character, how to build characters, the plot, the scene i.e. everything that leads to the first contact you should watch Jongens, Stadt Land Fluss, Freir Fall etc. Watch how it happens in Stadt Land Fluss from 51:00 to 55:00, how nicely it is done, it takes 4 minutes from the aha moment to the actual interaction, how nicely the actors played, how the scene is set up, it's just so wonderful.

I am not a dancer. I do not go to ballet. I approached this film as a film because I was intrigued by the concept of combining quiet dance scenes with a plot and characters. In fact, I did not know there was a gay theme before watching. I am glad I did not.Ryan Steele (Chip) has done an impressive job as the central character. He has managed to convey the purity of a frightened adolescent while not seeming stupid. He infuses his character with the confused depth of a child whose single parent clings and psychologically abuses. If he has managed to do this with technique, I am impressed even more. My guess is that he drew this from within.Reed Luplau (Theo) manages to play the seducer without the jaded harshness of a beautiful gay dancer who has already been involved with other gay men. He plays a likable character with implied issues of his own. The formation of his relationship with Chip rings true. It is not cheaply melodramatic.Katie, Cynthia and Anthony are excellent as supporting characters. Well acted in each case. Each has some degree of individual relationship to Chip and Theo. Good writing. They could have been flat characters just there as background.The staging, lighting and music were excellent. The simplicity stunning and quite moving at times. This doesn't happen for me often with uneven production values of some indie films. All said, I was pleasantly surprised by this film, and then deeply affected by it.

I was expecting a standard gay film and was quite surprised. This film is primarily about dance. The four performers are all superb dancers, and their dances are the main focus of the film, reflecting (to a degree) their relationships with one another and others in their lives (who are never seen). The main character is Chip, a somewhat naive 18-year-old Kansan, trying to cope in New York City without appearing too vulnerable. I did find it strange that these four dancers (and their choreographer) had very little personal or verbal interaction for most of the film; indeed, it wasn't until toward the end that they seemed to actually know one another. Chip's intimate relationship with the other male dancer is handled tenderly and realistically, but their story is secondary to the love and dedication all the characters have for their art.