Buena Vista Social Club (Full Screen)

The documentary style and the scenes of streetlife in Havana are also very colorful and entertaining,

However I must agree with some of the other reviewers that there is something off about Ry Cooder. I respect him for bringing this wonderful music and these artists the recognition they deserve but his attititude on film does seem strange and his guitar playing does not fit with some of the tunes. At one point he is performing with Rueben Gonzalez , the great Cuban pianist, and he sounds so out of place. In fact Gonzalez looks up from the keyboard with a look on his face that seemed to me to be saying."what are you doing?"

I guess Cooder might have made the choice to let the music of Cuba speak for itself and just be content to film it but he chose instead to feature himself too frequently for my taste.
That aside , this is still a fine documentary and a must for anyone who enjoys latin music.


A Stroke of Genius   January 18, 2004
Cecil Fox (Little Rock, AR United States)
If you have never been to Cuba, this is a mildly amusing documentary about a chapter in the history of carribean music. If, however, you have walked through the neigborhood of Buena Vista on 70th Street in La Habana or watched the sun go down from the Malecón at the mouth of the Rio Almendares this film will make your mouth go dry and your eyes water. Vim Wenders and Ry Cooder, quite by accident discovered a cache of musicians who had played in the forties in a Cabaret called the Buena Vista Social Club that is now long gone. They have common characteristics, they are old, they were forgotten and they were and are incredibly gifted. Some have now died in their eighties and nineties. They were rescued and recorded in the nick of time. The film is apolitical and was shot digitally without apology. The CD from the sound track sold gozillions of copies and raised the export of Cuban music and musicians to be a world treasure. The type of music is called "son" and arose from the Danzon (the big dance) of the early part of the century. Played by three to six musician with uncomplicated instruments, you get to meet each of them individually. Collectively, son is "guajiro" or country boy music. The stars, including Compay Segundo, Eliades Ochoa and the charming Ibrahim Ferrar will become perpetually embedded in your memory. Until this country comes to its senses you will be deprived of the experience of this touching world, but until then you can enjoy it vicariously at the Buena Vista Social Club.


Somewhat Disappointing   January 10, 2004
J. Christmas (New Brunswick, NJ)
A fairly enjoyable musical travelogue -- saved mostly by the high quality of the music itself -- but I expected more. Wenders treats everything kind of superficially -- each musician gets to say about a paragraph about his/her life and music on camera. Ibrahim Ferrer, the defacto star of the movie, gets a bit more face time, but he seems like such a fascinating character and I don't really feel that the audience gets to know him.

The movie needs a story, a thread going all the way through. We know that Cooder rediscovered some of these guys, and that there used to be this Buena Vista Social Club, but we don't get a good sense of it. What history there is is usually done in voice over, often with music playing at the same time, so it's hard to take in the information.

Cooder gets annoying sometimes as well -- his guitar style doesn't always fit in, and there's something irritating and a condescending about the way he relates to the other musicians.

Still, worth seeing, especially in the US, where we rarely get a good look at Cuban life.