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Buena Vista Social Club
review by James S.
Rated G
Studio: Artisan
Running Time: 105 minutes
Starring: Ry Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez,
Eliades Ochoa, Omaro Portuondo, Compay Segundo
Directed by Wim Wenders
Retail Price: $19.99
Features: Audio Commentary with Wim Wenders ,
Theatrical Trailer, Musician/Crew Information, Production
Notes, Interactive Menus, Additional Scenes
Specs: Enhanced for 16:9 television, 5.1 Dolby Digital
English Surround, 5.1 Dolby Digital Spanish Surround,
English Subtitles, Chapter Search
The world can thank Ry Cooder. The guitarist headed down
to Cuba to capture the essence of Cuban music. With son
Joachim in tow, Ry recorded and played with legendary
musicians unknown to the American audience. His efforts
resulted in the Grammy winning album The Buena Vista Social
Club. The video by the same title, directed by Wim Wenders
(who incidentally worked with Cooder on the film Paris,
Texas) follows the Cuban musicians in their homeland of Cuba
as well as at a few concert tour stops in Amsterdam and New
York City.
The Buena Vista Social Club contains documentary style
footage of the artists recording and telling about their
upbringings. The Spanish dialogue, which is subtitled in
English, is interspersed with concert footage. Aside from
the music, the most compelling aspect of the film has to be
the one-on-one conversations with the musicians. In Cuba,
you'll listen as they tell of their musical histories
against a backdrop of poverty stricken Cuban lifestyle. Then
follow the group to New York City where they marvel at the
immensity and beauty of a city completely unlike their
homeland.
Even if you've never given Cuban music a chance, you must
hear the music of the Buena Vista Social Club. The vocals of
Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portundo blend wonderfully with
musicians Ruben Gonzalez, Eliades Ochoa, and the father and
son Cooder tandem. At the very least check out the CD or one
of the follow-up recordings of Ferrer, Portundo, or the
Afro-Cuban All-Stars.
Unfortunately, Buena Vista Social Club was filmed on Sony
DigiData Camera Mini DV. It shows. Much of the movie has
that handheld camera look to it. While some scenes look
good, most have high contrast footage that makes it look
like a home movie. Don't expect the soothing appearance of a
Hollywood picture. The lighting is either too bright or too
dark. The concert footage of the Amsterdam stop is washed
out and lacks vibrant colors.
Where the video breaks down, the audio excels. The
concert and recording footage is captured in full stereo
sound, and the production quality of the audio track is
apparent. Full stereo sound is coupled with high energy bass
tones and a rich midrange, provided by the likes of Ferrer
and Portundo. The commentary is clear, and Spanish speaking
listeners will be able to pick up the dialogue easily. For
the Spanish deficient crowd, such as myself, the movie is
subtitled in English.
The film clocks in at 105 minutes, but to add extra value
to the movie plenty of extras were thrown in. A few extra
scenes deleted from the original film are present. They
include extra songs and some additional commentary about the
beginnings of the project. Also, the main feature has an
optional running commentary with Wim Wenders where he talks
about the production of the film and his impressions of the
musicians. If you want to learn more about the musicians,
short bios of each is included. Likewise, you can read about
the works of Wenders and Cooder. Finally, production notes
detail the making of the film.
Buena Vista Social Club is best enjoyed by fans of the
CD. If you buy the DVD first, you may find the documentary
good for a single viewing and never watch it again. This
isn't a concert film in the traditional sense where the
music plays on. Rather, as Wenders calls it himself, this
"musicumentary" is a mixture of great music with interesting
dialogue. The film stays somewhere between the two extremes,
so music in constantly interrupted with dialogue and vice
versa. As I watched the concert footage, I wanted more
concert footage. As I intently viewed the interviews, I was
pulled in by what the musicians had to say. The switching
back and forth attempts to appeal to everyone but I feel in
degenerates the flow of the movie in spots.
 (3/5, NOT included in
final score)
 (2/5)
 (4/5)
 (3.5/5)
(3/5,
NOT an average)
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