Buena Vista Social Club . Tucson Weekly . 08-02-99

Buena Vista Social Club

DIRECTED BY: Wim Wenders

REVIEWED: 08-02-99

BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB. Often information withheld from a film is just as telling as what's present, and that's certainly true in Wim Wenders' documentary about a group of older, accomplished Cuban musicians assembled to cut a record. Wenders' visual talents are on display as the camerawork and editing tightly weave stories of men and one woman and their enthusiasm for their instruments. On one level, it's a feel-good movie about musicians who'd lived in relative obscurity until a London record company and guitarist Ry Cooder rediscovered them. At the same time, however, the fragmentation of the characters and the overly colorful portrayal of their public lives underscores their existence for viewers merely as performers marketable to white, Western culture. Excellent music, beautiful cinematography and subtle clues to the musicians' trying off-screen lives in Cuba combine for a thought-provoking historical document, and experimentation with audience positioning.

--Polly Higgins

Full Length Reviews
Buena Vista Social Club
Buena Vista Social Club
Buena Vista Social Club

Other Films by Wim Wenders
Lisbon Story
The End of Violence

Film Vault Suggested Links
Whales
Roam Sweet Home
Paris Was a Woman

Rate this Film
If you don't want to vote on a film yet, and would like to know how others voted, leave the rating selection as "Vote Here" and then click the Cast Vote button.