“Step forward”, danced life

Obsessed with labels call movies like A step forward «feel good movies», which would be something like movies with a kind and comforting tone, those that recharge your batteries and soften the scars that life leaves you with.

The narrative of Cédric Klapisch’s feature film is built on a two-level structure that revolves around the protagonist, the dancer. On the one hand, this brilliant classical ballet artist who has an accident on stage shortly after discovering her partner’s infidelity, is devastated by the prospect of not returning to the stage due to an ankle injury. A prospect that would make her feel like a failure in front of that absentee mother who helped her rise to great heights in her profession. On the other hand, an uncertain future, alone faced with a family reunion with her widowed father and a respected lawyer who always considered her devotion to dance the lesser evil, regretting that she did not prefer law to variety. The man is a really nice guy, lives in a small town near Paris, and who seems to be unaware of the universe of his three daughters, especially the protagonist, who does not hesitate to reproach him for his affective indifference.

But this is not the usual plot of personal inspiration that brings all the clichés to a roaring end. On the contrary, the very experienced French director Cédric Klapisch (1961) — with twenty films made in just over three decades, the last of which was written in collaboration with the prolific Argentine screenwriter Santiago Amigoren (1962) — carries the soft drama’s roots with Knowing that in this matter, he is not interested in originality because others have woven similar threads before, but he is aware that he can return to these situations and give them a different outlet.

The sentimental swings of a frustrated dancer are accompanied by the possibility of other paths, other attitudes towards life. This is how the Israeli choreographer and dancer Hofesh Shechter enters the scene, perhaps as a solution to the future that worries him. And as the canon dictates, bringing together a series of supporting characters that cover the emotional landscape, ending the film with an open door of hope that invites the viewer to smile. That’s luck too.

“IN THE CORPS”

France, 2022.

Director: Cedric Klapisch.

Cast: Marion Barbeau, Hofesh Shechter, Denis Podalydès, Muriel Robin, Pio Marmai, François Civil, Souheila Yacoub, Mehdi Baki, Alexia Giordano, Robinson Cassarino.

Comedy.

117 minutes.