Anticipation of contact: Pina-3D and stereoscopic cinematography

This article examines the film Pina-3D (Wenders) as a case study for contemporary stereoscopic cinematography methods. While S3D cinema is often associated with highly kinetic and mobile qualities, especially in relation to filming dance, the author argues that the cinematography in Pina interprets dance as tactile exploration of space. The article outlines a number of formal strategies used to connect the stereoscopic image to tactile proximity in the film. These strategies include stereoscopic portraiture, oscillation between flattened and layered framing, and curtaining. The article also argues that the theme of ambivalent human touch that recurs throughout Pina Bausch’s choreography in the film also works as a rhetorical analogy for the ambivalent contact of the stereoscopic image. In particular, contemporary S3D cinematography discourse self-consciously navigates the line between stereoscopic contact as immersive pleasure and as a potential harmful assault on the spectator’s body.