Director: Benson Lee (Miss Monday)
Producers: Benson Lee, Amy Lo
MPAA Rating: NR
Running time: 101 min

I bet you didn’t know that Flash Dance changed lives. And I’m not talking about the lives of early 80’s teen girls across the US that decided they wanted to be welders by day and dancers by night. I’m talking about changing the lives of boys and girls as far away as Asia – all thanks to a scene which runs less than two minutes in length.

The scene in question is this one featuring members of the Rock Steady Crew showing their stuff. That scene pushed the art of b-boying into the mainstream and sparked a worldwide revolution which took b-boy style to every corner of the globe. Benson Lee’s documentary Planet B-Boy looks at where this style of dance is today by focusing on a few crews and their fight to represent their respective countries at the ultimate competition: Battle of the Year.

Whereas Israel’s documentary The Freshest Kids focuses on the development of the dance in the Bronx and takes it through the mainstream craze and into modern-day popular dance, Planet B-Boy artfully crams that history into the first five minutes of the film using a fusion of interviews, classic video clips and animation. Lee isn’t interested in giving you a decade by decade breakdown of the evolution of b-boying, or breakdancing as it’s more commonly referred to, instead he’s more concerned with the road leading up to the big competition. Lee takes a similar approach of Jeffrey Blitz’s Spellbound, focusing most of his attention on a number of crews and particular individuals within the crews.

While the acrobatics and artistry of the dance are enough to keep the average viewer entranced, Lee’s choice to focus on a few key individuals takes the film to another level. The infusion of the personal stories and struggles of a few key individuals elicits an emotional response from the audience and by the time the final competition approaches, the viewers have their own picks for the win, making the competition that much more intense and entertaining. Where this approach seems forced with some documentaries, Lee’s has the same sort of charm of Spellbound and though one may pick-up on the fact that you’re somehow being manipulated, it’s easy to overlook it because the stories are so human and at their core, everyone can all relate to them in some way.

The emotional buy in was an unexpected bonus. The real reason I, a layman fan of the dance style, and the connoisseurs made the trip to see this was to see the dance crews in action and Lee does not disappoint. From France’s Phase T with their smooth moves to South Korea’s Gamblerz with their unbelievable power moves that put many a gymnast to shame, this is what most came to see and it’s all here, intricately and gorgeously captured with gorgeous cinematography.

I had expected to be entertained but Planet B-Boy delivered on a wholly unexpected emotional level. Lee’s film doesn’t just capture the struggles of a few individuals and crews on their way to Battle of the Year but along the way, it also manages to show the evolution of breakdancing the world over. Beyond that, Lee allows the various crews the opportunity to speak for themselves about the growth of the movement and what breakdancing means to them and rather surprisingly, regardless of where they’re from, everyone agrees on one thing: breakdancing unites. It doesn’t see race, colour, religion or even language. It unites individuals and communities and there aren’t many “movements” out there than can be said to do the same thing.

Yes, that message sounds cheesy when you read it but when it’s expressed with such passion and commitment as is shown by these participants, it’s hard to overlook and Planet B-Boy allows it to speak for itself and that is what makes this film a must see.

Links:
IMDb profile
Official Site
Flixster Profile for Planet B-Boy