«The 4000 Blows» by Frédéric Liver

In “The 4000 Blows” the multidisciplinary artist Frédéric Liver stages himself in an attempt to interpret Maurice Bejart’s choreography of Bolero, having never danced before.

The artist’s body, his mind, the control of his movements, becomes the means by which the execution of the dance can be brought to completion.

This all-encompassing research opens up unexpected questions to the viewer: is the work of art in the attempt itself, or in a specific execution of the act? When does the artwork start, and when does it end?

Splendidly shot, playing on the plastic construction of movement and body and on the emotionality of the surrounding environments, the film does not have a linear narrative but a confluence of stasis and movement, of inspirations coming from a variegated poetic and artistic imaginary, a sort of collective consciousness that in the course of the process is metabolized and made its own by the artist.

Through the research of a performative artist who is confronted with the elusive beauty of dance, the film places a reflection on individuality and on artistic practice in the most physical sense.