'Girl Walk // All Day' Provides a Vibrant Finale to Cinema East's Summer

By Lara Morgan

Outdoor summer film series Cinema East went out with an emphatic bang Sunday night at Yellow Jacket Stadium, with its finale screening of Girl Walk // All Day (Jette's SXSW review). Approximately 700 Austinites watched the musical; some with beers, some with (what would become futile) chairs, almost all destined to dance that evening, whether they knew it or not walking into the venue.

Set to Girl Talk's marvelous mash-up album All Day, with no dialogue, Girl Walk // All Day is a strange mix of narrative-yet-documentary, silent-yet-musical film. The movie follows a dancer (Anne Marsen) who feels the sudden urge to bust out of her ballet class and dance around New York City. She then reacts to passersby and the cityscape with ingenuousness and charm and the craziest amalgamation of dance styles imaginable.

I had seen Girl Walk // All Day before, and could not have been more content with it, but still I couldn't help but think: How did this album-long, epic music video of a movie come about? In a video that showed before the film, director Jacob Krupnick, told the story about how the concept came to fruition: Years ago, while working on a film project, he asked for amateur dancers to come and throw caution to the wind, dancing with their all to a song they love. Marsen showed up and totally knocked him off his feet with a nonstop performance to Daft Punk's "Human After All," incorporating capoeira, hip-hop and ballet.

From that moment he knew he wanted to "turn her loose in New York," waiting for the perfect soundtrack to make his "giant music video" -- when he heard Girl Talk's All Day he knew it was time. Krupnick then hired a small crew to sneak through New York City, filming in a way that had "minor impact on the city, but would also incorporate the passersby and the visitors and the businessmen and the daily flow and traffic of the city." He describes it as "somewhat planned, somewhat improvised," for though it interacts with real people and settings, the movie is a narrative with plot, characters, and masterful choreography.

Marsen and the other main dancer/actors, Dai Omiya and John Doyle, use gestures, differing dance styles and expression to communicate with each other and the audience. Their energy, fueled by the sweet Girl Talk beats, leaps off the screen and causes even the most stoic of viewers to want to get up and join the dance.

"This is a movie for moving and dancing and feeling like you're part of a scene," said Krupnick in the pre-movie video, shortly after banning lawn chairs from the venue.

Less than 10 minutes into the screening Sunday, people were up and cutting a rug. At first it was only a handful of the truly independent, brave (and likely intoxicated) free spirits -- but the infectiousness of Girl Walk // All Day could not be denied! Before too long, more than half of the audience was up in front of the screen, watching and grooving, some mimicking Marsen, others just feeling the music. I have rarely felt such camaraderie as I did moshing with strangers to the irresistible musical, only in a place like Austin could a movie viewing turn into an all-out dance party. Completing the magic of the night, at the final scene, sparklers were lit and the crowd was ablaze. Cinema East chose very wisely for their summer finale, and they skillfully made the night a triumph.

If you want to watch a fun flick, or find a new aerobics video, or put on the perfect movie for dance party inspirations, you can find and see Girl Walk // All Day here. But be warned, you cannot watch and stay immobile.

Lara Morgan is an intern at the Austin Film Society.