Review of Rize (2005) by Mike W — 11 Mar 2008

David LaChapelle's Rize, as opposed to Mad Hot Ballroom, is an invigorating, in-your-face expose on the dance movement in South Central L.A. I was a bit skeptical of this film being only for those who would purchase the soundtrack, yet it has turned out to be a quality documentary. Much like the Bloods and the Crypts, the dance movement has split into two fronts - the Clowns and the Krumpers - who oppose each other if for no other purpose than to focus their negative energy somewhere specific. Dancing in this environment is more than a lifestyle, but a way of life and possibly the only protective alternative to gang life. The pure speed and energy of these dancers is mesmerizing and once we begin learning the social background and history behind the movement, their motions become a metaphor of anti-oppression, anger and disappointment turned into something positive and so magnetic that it draws many others away from more self-destructive routes.

LaChapelle includes numerous testimonials of members and family members, scenes of birthday parties, and dance sessions themselves so that every angle within and around it is covered. Many of the subjects have said they would be dead if not for the Clowns or Krumpers, but the inability to fully escape their surroundings despite belonging to these groups functions as an occasional punch in the gut to the viewers thinking these kids have "made it". LaChapelle, a music video director and photogropher, does concentrate heavily on the dancing itself, but when that is all these people have, it would be akin to complaining about Hoop Dreams for showing too much basketball footage. There are few missteps here and there, most occuring in the final 20 minutes where previous oversights are tacked on because they couldn't fit in elsewhere, but overall this is as interesting and energetic as documentaries get. The dancing, which at first may seem purely ridiculous, becomes an expression of their tortured souls - rage expressed physically but nonviolently; a cryout of an oppressed race from a generation desperately trying to build themselves up into something better.