Success at a young age can be tough – your peers are still struggling so you play down your achievements to fit in. Sure it’s easy to brush off an A grade here, an award there, but when your accomplishments lead to you having to choose between fame and friends, what do you do? Do you follow your dreams and risk losing your schoolmates or stay and spend your life wondering what if?
Ballet Boys is a candid documentary following three 14-year-old friends Lukas, Syvert and Torgeir over an important four-year period at the beginning of their careers. Training at the Norwegian Ballet School the three form a strong friendship as Sinatra songs are sung through braced teeth in the change room showers and secret crushes are scratched into its walls.
“In the changing rooms we can say what we want and not be overheard, we can be ourselves 110%, the change room is probably the place where our friendship is based, we will always remember that change room” narrates Lukas, the most determined dancer of the group and already 180cm at just 15 years old.
In between formulating elaborate handshakes and discussing Facebook posts, the three compete with and against each other, each determined to gain entry into the National Academy of Arts in Oslo. But then, entirely unexpectedly, Lukas is invited to audition for the Royal Ballet School in London. This could be the ultimate break of a lifetime for him, so what does he do?
Norwegian Director Kenneth Elvebakk is primarily known for his award winning documentaries. His documentary, The Secret Club (2003), remembers an underground club for homosexuals that was established in Oslo in 1950, when homosexuality was a criminal offence in Norway. It features a group of older homosexual men recalling with humour and a touch of sadness, the part the club played in youth – old, wise men recounting times past.
In contrast Ballet Boys follows three teenagers looking to the future with total uncertainty. Asked by his teacher what he will do if he doesn’t succeed at ballet or gets injured, Lukas answers: “I don’t know, that is the question”. Torgeir isn’t even sure if he wants to be a dancer: “I don’t want to dance every day and retire at 42 with a ruined body”. While Syvert considers giving up dancing altogether as it is affecting his schoolwork.
But the undertone of sadness remains.
After receiving the offer of an audition in London, Lukas is acutely aware of his friends drifting apart from him. We see him alone stretching in the studio while Syvert and Torgeir muck around in the change-room. Meanwhile, Syvert voices his concern that if Lukas accepts a place in Royal Ballet School in London he will turn into a “clone” like the rest of the dancers there.
It’s a typical coming of age story, school is nearing an end, decisions have to be made, but is the friendship strong enough to withstand these changes.
At 72 minutes, the documentary has been criticised for being too short – we don’t really get a chance to fully see the depth of the protagonists’ personalities and therefore emotionally invest in their story.
But boys of that age are generally closed books; they aren’t the demographic to look to if you want a deeply personal, heart-wrenching documentary. You can read enough between what they say to know that this is a deeply moving time in their lives, and they are such a likeable trio that you hope they manage to stay friends, even if it’s just on Facebook.
My verdict, if you want to blub over a Ballet movie watch Billy Elliot, if you want something more real and relatable, then Ballet Boys is for you, a solid 4 out of 5.
For screening times and further festival details visit:
Scandinavian Film Festival
Canberra July 8 – 20
Sydney July 9 – 27
Melbourne July 10 – 27
Brisbane July 11 – 20
Adelaide July 23 – 31
Perth July 24 – 30
Byron Bay July 25 – 30
