On October 6, the film “Fly: Dance of Freedom” hits wide release, which, true to genre tradition, has very little plot but a lot of great dances. And this fact alone makes the film worth watching.

The premiere of the German film “Fly: Dance of Freedom” (Fly) took place back in 2021, but it only reached our screens this fall. And right now, it’s one of the best options for a cinema outing. Even considering the frankly slapdash script.

Dance Is a Second Chance

At the center of the plot are participants in an experimental rehabilitation program. Each of them has committed a crime in the past, and as a corrective measure – due to their dance abilities – they were offered participation in a group led by former champion Ava (Yasmin Tabatabai).

She tries to find an individual approach to each of the guilty talents and turn the disparate group into a real team – and if lucky, even into a street theater troupe.

Dance Is Emotion

The script in the film “Fly: Dance of Freedom” is only needed to justify the transition from one dance number to another. Dances here replace internal monologues – one of the heroines figuratively fights her demons by dancing in a solitary confinement cell being filled with water. Instead of key dialogues – guess what? Right, dances!

And this approach surprisingly works well. Why use words when we all know a) why people watch such movies b) what attempts to balance a good story with dance numbers lead to. Here, the creators don’t try to deceive anyone. And the brilliantly staged dances themselves evoke a lot of emotions. By the way, among the choreographers, street art fans will be glad to see familiar faces (for example, Pac-Man, whom many remember from the show America's Best Dance Crew and the “Step Up” series).

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Open material

Dance Is Freedom

One of the key themes of the film is freedom. It’s no coincidence that director Katja von Garnier unambiguously contrasts this with physical and emotional confinement. By dancing, the heroes shed their shackles. The shackles of public opinion. The shackles of their own experiences. The shackles of the past and future. And it absolutely doesn’t matter the style of dance – here a whole array is presented: from hip-hop and breakdance to contemporary – or where the heroes have to dance. Because the most important thing is movement, and what the dancer puts into it. This is also about freedom of expression.

Dance Is Love

And what dance film would be complete without a love story?! Here it is too. And it is conveyed – ta-da – through dances! The most beautiful episodes of the film “Fly: Dance of Freedom” are the duet numbers of Bex (Svenja Jung) and Jay (Ben Wichert). They dance almost naked under autumn leaves, dance among Berlin fountains, unafraid to get soaked through. And we have to repeat ourselves, but: this conveys far more emotion than the simple words that would be typical for such plots. The only downside here is that there is absolutely no chemistry between the actors outside of the dances.

“Fly: Dance of Freedom” can be safely recommended to all dance fans – there are really a lot of dance numbers here, and most of them are staged at the highest world level. It’s pleasant to watch and there’s plenty to be inspired by. For other viewers, the film may seem unconvincing – too superficial a script, little acting, and the coherence of everything happening may raise objectively fair questions. However, dance films have long been a separate genre with their own rules and devoted fans, and “Fly” doesn’t try to change that.

Trailer:

“Fly: Dance of Freedom” is in theaters from October 6.