Ballroom Dancer
Starring: Christian Bonke, Andreas Koefoed
Director: Vyacheslav 'Slavik' Kryklyvyy
Rating: 4/5
If you are looking to watch something a little different at the cinema this weekend then Ballroom Dancer could be the movie that you are looking for.
While Ballroom Dancer is a documentary the director's have given the film a real dramatic edge to deliver a film that really gets under the skin of these people as well as deliver a real emotional punch.
Slavik Kryklyvyy, a once legendary World Latin American Dance Champion, has been out of the spotlight for ten years but is determined, with the help of a new partner, to recapture his former glory.
Slavik is a temperamental and wildly talented perfectionist, taken out of the spotlight by a hip injury, and he is willing to sacrifice everything to get back to the top.
He expects nothing but the best from his amateur world champion girlfriend, Anna Melnikova, and his temper flares when she fails to live up to his high standards.
The couple dance around the world, clinging on to their relationship as the pressure mounts and waging a battle against memory, anxiety, injury and envy along the way.
Ballroom dancing is perhaps seen as a very glamorous lifestyle and yet this film shows off a very different side to this world... it is packed full of hard work, sacrifice and routine.
If you are expecting a film full of glitz and glamour then you will be a little disappointed as this instead is a character study of one man Slavik Kryklyvyy.
Ballroom Dancer is a gripping film from start to finish as Slavik is desperate to recapture the glory and success that he enjoyed at the beginning of his career.
It is incredibly insightful and really does delve into the lives of Slavik and his young dancing partner Anna Melnikova - who is also his lover.
This film perhaps doesn't paint Slavik in the best light as he is demanding and some time demeaning and you slowly see Melnikova's smile and confidence fade away.
Ballroom Dancer is a story about a relationship as much as it is about dancing as this romance begins to crack and crumble because of the pressures of their professional work.
As well as insightful and riveting this is a truly heartbreaking film - the scene where Slavik tries to win Anna back is one of the most powerful scenes in the movie.
Ballroom Dancer shows a completely different side to this world that perhaps we haven't seen before - it is a must see.
Ballroom Dancer is out now