rize

LaChapelle’s documentary on LA street scene hiphop reaches Europe and the longer taz review (only german) finds a concise equivalent in this Village Voice review from the beginning of the year:

Predictably, perhaps, the year’s big-ticket doc about race and class is the work of a rich, white fashion photographer turning his gaze on a poor, black subculture. It’s also the most infectiously energetic and inspiring doc I’ve seen in years. RIZE, which follows the moves of hip-hop dancers so crazy-quick that the doc starts by vowing its footage hasn’t been manipulated, was rightly regarded in Park city as the South Central Paris is Burning. Director David LaChapelle opens with images of L.A. ablaze in ’65 and ’92, and ends, after several sad turns, with a Maya Angelou poem. In between, the dancers prove more than capable of directing themselves, which makes the movie less tricky to applaud.

.. the following is an excerpt from a NYT review in June of this year (can also be found on LaChapelle’s site)

“Rize,” the new documentary directed by the fashion photographer David LaChapelle, begins with an unusual disclaimer: “The footage in this film has not been sped up in any way.” The reason for such reassurance soon becomes clear. Twenty-four frames

per second, the rate at which film traditionally moves through a camera – and the speed at which, according to Jean-Luc Godard, cinema discloses the truth – seems too sluggish for Mr. LaChapelle’s purpose, which is to record a form of dance that flourishes in some African-American neighborhoods in greater Los Angeles. (link)

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