Doc Review: 52 percent

To achieve their dreams especially young girls are forced to forget about their childhood and act like adults instead. The documentary “52 pro cent”  depicts the hard life of such a young girl dreaming of become a prima ballerina one day. In some like 13 impressive parts, the film brings up a lot of drama, since our “hero” – the litte girl – tries to achieve her dream under huge torture. Between the fear of not achieving her dream and the hope of becoming a ballerina, the documentary produced a dramatic story about success, pressure, defeat and ambition.

To me, it was quite hard to see how all those little girls in the age of 10 to 12 are tested in front of a jury of sceptical women. They were measured, rated, divided into categories, and somehow only passed around, not like children but like objects. They all were skinny, looked extremely tired and unhappy but at least tried to give their best in front of the jury and to hide their childishness and act like adults. This strict rating was so hard and created a quite cold atmosphere which was supported by the cold location, the white walls, the huge dance studios, and the glances of the jury members. Especially the part when the jury members sort out the young girls, screaming the girls names and score out the names on their lists was impressive for me. Not only because the coldness of the documentary is supported but due to the reaction of the girls and their mothers. For so many of those forced girls, the rejection means the burst of a dream of a better life. Their disappointment, their tears and their whole reaction is so authentic. The documentary captures a moment of truth, a moment of pain and success at the same time. And due to the fact that our hero of the film only gets  a “NO” from the jury, it gets even more painful but authentic. Only hollywood films end up with this happy – end thing but here, real life is depicted. A real life of a little girl which thought about dancing and being appropriate instead of being a child. The fact that she got the “NO” only because her legs where little percent under 52% and thereby too short absolutely grabbed and deeply impressed me. It is just obscure and sad but touchy…

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