In 1996, composer, producer, and guitar legend Ry Cooder entered
Egrem Studios in Havana with the forgotten greats of Cuban music,
many of them in their 60s and 70s, some of them long since retired.
The resulting album, Buena Vista Social Club, became a Grammy-winning
international bestseller. When Cooder returned to Havana in
1998 to record a solo album by 72-year-old vocalist Ibrahim
Ferrer, filmmaker Wim Wenders was on hand to document the occasion.
Wenders splits the film between portraits of the performers,
who tell their stories directly to the camera as they wander
the streets and neighborhoods of Havana, and a celebration of
the music heard in performance scenes in the studio, in their
first concert in Amsterdam, and in their second and final concert
at Carnegie Hall. The songs are too often cut short in this
fashion, but Buena Vista Social Club is not a concert film.
Wenders weaves the artist biographies with a glimpse of modern
Cuba remembering its past, capturing a lost culture in music
that is suddenly, unexpectedly revived for audiences in Havana
and around the world. Wenders makes his presence practically
invisible, as if his directorial flourishes or off-screen narration
might deflect attention from the artists, who do a fine job
of telling their own stories through interviews and music. It's
a loving portrait of a master class in Cuban music, with a vital
cast of aging performers whose energy and passion belie their
years.
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