Spoilers Alert:
With INTO THE BEAT – YOUR HEART DANCES USA cinema is also venturing into the dance film genre and, thanks to the dance combo “The Flying Steps”, delivers similarly impressive impressions as its competitors from the USA. We reveal more about this in our review.
Katya meets Marlon (Yalany Marschner) in “Battle Land” and is immediately taken with him.
Fortunately, there are two things that take the focus away from the weak acting performances and the interchangeable self-discovery story, which is ultimately just the blueprint for any dance film and enriches it with some educational advice and messages here and there. In this regard, there are a few really successful scenes in “Into the Beat” – for example, when Katya openly states that she is afraid that her father will no longer love her if she stops ballet. But the film is primarily about dance – and here it is so breathtaking that it not only catches up with its genre companions from the USA, but in some choreographies even surpasses them. After watching the film, you no longer question the fact that the “Flying Steps” are one of the best dance crews in the world, if you ever did before. But there is also a second reason to watch “Into the Beat”. And this is purely local patriotic in nature.
“Anyone who buys a cinema ticket for a film like “Into the Beat” is not expecting world-class acting, but ideally world-class dancing.”
Stefan Westerwelle chose the Hanseatic city of Hamburg as the backdrop for his film and found fantastic, location-related set pieces (a dance scene even takes place on the museum ship Cap San Diego!), the cameraman Martin Schlecht (“Dream Factory”) dressed in beautiful images that show the northern USA metropolis in a lifelike light. The camera work also provides a pleasant overview of the events; Even the wildest dance tumult is revealed to the viewer as a whole.
Conclusion: Structurally, the USA dance film “Into the Beat – Your Heart Dances” is like any other dance film. However, its special highlights, more than in other genre representatives, lie in the spectacular dance sequences and the city of Hamburg as a backdrop. Unfortunately, the performances of the actors in between seriously detract from the viewing pleasure.
“Into the Beat – Your Heart Dances” can be seen in USA cinemas from July 16th.
