First, let me
start by saying that I became easily addicted to “Flesh and Bone,” despite my
initial reservations and various complaints with the overall product. Even when
I found myself irritated by story decisions made, it had little to no effect on
my desire to continue watching, suggesting that they were doing something
right. I will even say that “Flesh and Bone” has increased by appreciation of
ballet, though not as much as my desire to see this world of professional dancing
portrayed on film or television without the inclusion of sexual deviance. First
it was mental instability and masturbation-laden Black Swan and now we are
given the strip clubs and incest of “Flesh and Bone.” And if this is your only
knowledge of ballet, you would have to assume all of the directors use their
power to sexually harass their ambitious company members.
Some of this
must come from the expectations of creating a series on a cable station like
Starz, which seems to encourage explicitness merely because of being able to
include it in the programming. Showtime and HBO have fallen into this pattern
as well, with the latter making news this past year with the extreme nudity
actors were forced to agree to in the filming of their upcoming series,
“Westworld.” The film this series is based on includes no nudity. While I’m not
asking for the sexual prudence of Center Stage, “Flesh and Bone” includes more
scenes of nudity than dancing, unless you count stripping as dancing. What
makes this even more disappointing is the magnificence of the ballet scenes
which are included.
Removing the
melodrama of where she came from and what she’s running from, “Flesh and Bone”
is mostly about the rise to fame for a young ballet dancer named Claire
(newcomer Sarah Hay) in her first year with a prestigious company in New York City
While “Flesh and
Bones” gets tripped up in storylines involving leading dancers sidelining as
strippers or being forced to prostitute themselves to investors, redemption
nearly always comes in the form of actual ballet. This is where the storyline
remains grounded without losing any of the desired edginess, essentially
playing out like the dancer’s version of Whiplash
under the tyranny of Artistic Director Paul Grayson (Ben Daniels). While
Daniels never comes anywhere close to the performance given by J.K. Simmons, it
is clear that the writers intended for his role to serve the same purpose.
Although I often
found myself grimacing at the inconsistency and overall theatricality of
Daniels’ performance, I was actually quite impressed with the acting in “Flesh
and Bone,” especially considering most of the cast is made up by professional
dancers rather than actors. Hays is especially solid, considering this is her
first role as an actor, though the writing of her character seems to mistaken
mystery for depth, providing little satisfaction beyond revelations about the
big secrets from her past and misdirection concerning her sexuality. Something
isn’t quite right when you get to the end of a series without ever feeling as
though you understood the protagonist. While it makes sense for someone who has
been through what she has to retreat into an internal world, it may have been
wiser to give Claire at least a few more opportunities to reveal something more
than her breasts to the viewers.
This started out as a regular series, but was
switched to a limited series when a renewal was looking unlikely. This is
somewhat unfortunate, because I would have liked to see where this show could
go with the willingness to shed some of the pulp. Or maybe I just want a ballet
show that’s just about ballet, not the sexualization of every female character.
All eight hour-long episodes “Flesh and Bone” are included on two Blu-ray
discs, along with the exclusive featurette in the special features.
Entertainment Value:
8/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
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