VHS Videos: Buena Vista Social Club Video

Average Rating:

Rating: - Great music - Disappointing film
Can you imagine someone making a documentary about Beethoven and constantly interrupting his symphonies to have a talking head make numerous comments? To interrupt such magic as heard and performed in this film is just as sacrilege. There is a particular mood to Cuban music that lifts you up and puts you in another state. You are lost in movement and colour. You become a drum, a trumpet, a guitar. You get out of your chair and dance and hug the air. Then like some incessant commercial break you are jarred back into reality. It's SO annoying! Not to mention that it's hard to really listen to what they are saying when there are still traces of clouds in your brain (ever try to follow a conversation when you're drunk or high?). Don't get me wrong, I love the interviews, and the scenery and the whole flavour of this film! I just would have preferred it if Wenders had paid tribute to these performers by letting the music speak its language, then separately, at the beginning or the end, tacked on the interviews and other stuff. Or at least let two or three songs play through at a time. I know, there's always the CD one can listen to all the way, but the energy cast off by these performers as you watch them is integral to the music. That's why people go to see live performances.
I'm looking forward to seeing the DVD and hearing the commentary but my dream DVD would have the music and other stuff separate. I know I'm a perfectionist but when one is nearing an epiphany, it's a harsh thing to have it tugged out of your grasp.