On the Beat - DVD

Film: For 20-year-old medical student Delphine (Mylène St-Sauveur), there is only one true dream: she desperately wants to become a successful dancer. But while she certainly has the talent, her parents insist that her studies will always come first. Only Delphine's grandma (France Castel) has her back, always lending a sympathetic ear and helpful advice. When the opportunity for an important audition opens up, Delphine decides against her studies and for dancing, but still needs a partner for the casting. She chooses the charming Marc (Nico Archambault), even though he has a shared past with Delphine's best friend Julianne (Alexia Gourd). Although conflicts with her parents and Julianne are inevitable, Delphine and Marc give everything to pass the audition and get an invitation to New York. But just when everything seems to be going perfectly, a tragedy befalls Delphine that threatens to take away all desire to dance...

On the Beat is a French Canadian dance film set against the atmospheric backdrop of Montreal. Director Charles-Olivier Michaud does use some very common clichés of the genre and very obviously borrows from successful productions like Step Up 3 here and there, but that doesn't make his film, which was directed on a much smaller budget, any less worth watching (By comparison, Step Up 3 cost more than ten times as much as On the Beat). Even if the dance scenes can't quite keep up with those of larger cinema productions, Michaud has done a respectable job of staging the rhythmic movements of his actors.

It's pleasant that the film dispenses with the battles that are so popular for the genre at the moment. This is solely about the big audition and the preparations for it. This may sound a bit unspectacular to some, but Michaud uses the time he has left by foregoing long battle sequences to deepen the characters and the dramaturgy. Admittedly, even with this additional time the whole thing still remains rather superficial. But especially the access to Delphine is made easier for the teenage target audience this way. The conflicts with her parents, especially with her mother, who was once a dancer herself, the emerging love for Marc, the little conflicts with Julianne and especially her wonderful relationship with her grandma are all well realized. Sure, the whole thing still isn't really profound and at times the dialogues are quite shallow. But compared to other machinations of the genre, which rely almost entirely on the showmanship of the dance scenes, On the Beat can really be seen in dramaturgical terms.

Only the end seems a bit rushed. While Michaud takes a lot of time with the build-up of the story and the conflict situations, he deals with their resolution at the end in a scant 10 minutes. Here, the whole thing seems more like the pilot of a series that only finds its actual beginning with the not really spectacular finale. But since this isn't the case, the too fast ending leaves a very unsatisfying impression, which might also harm the positive overall impression a bit. Nevertheless: if you like dance movies, but put more emphasis on the story and its characters than on the actual dance sequences, you can safely grab On the Beat. Worth seeing!

Image + Sound: Technically, the DVD leaves a decent impression. The picture is clean, the detail representation is on a good level and the warm color scheme provides a pleasant atmosphere. As for the sound, it is noticeable that the dialogue on the French soundtrack has turned out much stronger than on the German Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. However, the music, an extremely important element in dance films, comes through very well here as well. But a great surround experience should not be expected. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the DVD has a decent 25 minute making of, a music video, as well as the trailer for the film to offer. Good!

Conclusion: On the Beat is a nice dance film that admittedly doesn't reinvent the genre, but it does boast a story typical of the genre and quite likeable actors. The dance scenes can't quite keep up with those of more expensive cinema productions, but all in all they are worth seeing. Who does not attach great importance to originality and just wants to get nice dance entertainment, which can access this French-Canadian production confidently

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp