Buena Vista Social Club

Lions Gate - Lions Gate

Release date: 2000-10-17
DVD
Director:Wim Wenders
Actors: Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén González, Eliades Ochoa, Ry Cooder

Affectionate, Arts & Entertainment, Biography, Color, Concerts, Documentary, Germany, Merry, Movie, Music, Musical Features, Musician's Life, Performing Arts, Rousing, Social History, USA, Upbeat, Warm

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Buena Vista Social Club

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The perfect story for the most amazing performers in Latin America and the Caribbean. A must have.

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Buena Vista Social Club

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Wim Wenders' "Buena Vista Social Club" is a masterpiece. American blues guitarist Ry Cooder goes to Cuba,in search of the legendary Buena Vista Social Club. He comes to an impoverished, aging country. The clubs are long gone, living only in memories. Miraculously, Cooder finds living remnants of Cuba's musical scene-Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzales, Compay Segundo, and the singer Omara Portuoundo. Their music is bittersweet. They sing of joys long vanished, of a freer time. Ry Cooder doesn't glamorize Cuba's squalor,nor the repression that drove its musicians underground.

"Buena Vista Social Club" shows musicians who are young at heart. Quite a few have since passed away since this film's release nearly a decade ago. The opening,the haunting "Chan Chan",sends chills down the spine. "Veinte Anos" is an amazing ballad of unrequited love (when I saw this movie in college,I sang along-it's that powerful) The conclusion is powerful when the musicians come to the US and perform at Carnegie Hall. Ironically, and sadly,the "Buena Vista Social Club" was barred from entry to the US after 9/11 since they were branded as "propagandists" for the Castro regime. Anyone who has heard their music knows that they sing about love and loss, joy and sorrow... not politics. They are musicians whose golden years are truly golden.

"Buena Vista Social Club" is a soothing bittersweet symphony for the eyes and the soul. It's impossible to watch this documentary without being moved. It's music that speaks to the heart. The musicians are elderly,their song is timeless.

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