When a ballet teacher pushes her students for more “Attack!” in Kenneth Elvebakk’s frustrating documentary about teenage boys yearning for a life in ballet, you know how she feels. Elvebakk follows three Oslo boys as they try to locate their centre of balance. The lads are affable and talented but Elvebakk fails to find his film’s centre: emotion and thrust are largely lacking.
One boy leaves, then he comes back... and so it continues until a final parting occurs with an indifferent shrug. As a window on a world, Ballet Boys is solid. As dramatic exploration, it lacks attack.
