Today I decided to take a break from the heat (according to the weather forecast it was supposed to be in the nineties) and catch a movie. The movie I ended up going to was a documentary entitled 'Buena Vista Social Club', which was the 3:30 pm matinee.

It's not particularly linear, but it portrays the people involved in the Buena Vista Social Club band, which was formed when American musician Ry Cooder went to Cuba looking for old-style Cuban musicians. He found a number of very talented ones, many of whom had mostly or completely given up playing for years (pianist Ruben Gonzalez claimed not to have touched a piano in ten years); they recorded a self-titled album which did very well, better than anyone expected; and finally they did a bunch of concerts, the final series of which were at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan (and were sold out, as I well remember since I tried to get tickets to them).

The movie has a few different types of sections, which are mixed up pretty nicely. There's the 'get-to-know-the-musicians' sections, where a voice over by the musician in question introduces him- or herself and talks about his or her life, music, and the other musicians, while we see film of the musician walking around Havana, playing or singing, and in concert. I think most or maybe even all of the musicians get this treatment, though some get more air time than others; Ibrahim Ferrer, one of the vocalists, probably gets the most time on camera, possibly because he just had a solo album come out ('Buena Vista Social Club Presents...'), or maybe just because he's a pretty interesting guy and a really good singer. Ruben Gonzalez also has some pretty extended sections; in fact, one of the most winning parts of the movie is him playing the piano unaccompanied in what appears to be a gymnasium of some kind, which is filled with little kids doing acrobatics and ballet.

There are extended scenes of the Carnegie Hall concerts, sometimes with an introductory interview with the musicians explaining how the song came to be written or recorded. The music is quite good; my first reaction on leaving the theater was to go to a local CD store to pick up the Ruben Gonzalez solo album, but they were out, which was just as well as when I returned home I discovered I already had it. (Though I still don't recall buying it or getting it as a gift; perhaps I accidentally stole it from my roommate.) The introductions tend to go something like, "So I was just singing this thing to get warmed up and I asked Ruben to play along with me, and I guess Ry Cooder heard it and liked it so we recorded it!"

There are scenes of the various musicians recording in the studio. And finally, there are shots of them wandering around New York City in tourist mode. This was neat, though it's hard to put into words exactly what was so appealing about it. They were wandering around commenting on things with some enthusiasm (which I though also had a slight tinge of unease to it, though I could just be projecting), talking about how beautiful it was and how tall the buildings were, etc. Meanwhile New Yorkers are walking by them quickly in straight lines, trying (and succeeding) not to look at them or at anything else. There was some humor here, also, as they stopped at a shop window and tried to figure out who various statuettes were supposed to be of (one being Richard Nixon). Really, they seemed to be having pretty standard touristic reactions, such as what most of us small-town folk probably had on first encounter with Manhattan, if we would only admit it.

I'm not sure what techniques were used to shoot the film, but the colors in most of the shots are extremely saturated (that is, the colors are very pure and don't have a large grey component to them). This makes it more attractive, I think (there's a nifty extended shot which goes along the body of an old, rusted car; rather than looking old and crummy the purity of the colors gives it a clean, rainbowlike quality). Also, it feels like a reference to old technicolor films, and as such gives a vaguely nostalgic feel to things. I think this is intentional, as it fits in with the old-time music that's being celebrated and the musicians who, before this new opportunity, were generally considered past their prime. (I seem to recall reading that people within Cuba are generally not interested in the Buena Vista Social Club's music, and even that some younger musicians are insulted that the Americans recorded these old relics rather than them.)

So ultimately the question is, I suppose, thumbs up or thumbs down? I'd say that if you've heard and enjoyed any of the music associated with these musicians (to name a few examples, 'Buena Vista Social Club', 'Introducing...Ruben Gonzalez', 'Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferre', and 'The Afro-Cuban All-Stars'), then the movie is worth checking out. (I admit that the first time I heard them I thought they were a little dull compared with newer groups like Cubanismo, so you may find that if you listen to it again a few times your investment of time will pay off.) If you don't like it, then you probably won't like the movie much; the music is the main focus of the movie, and although you do get to see a little of what life in Cuba is like, it's probably not enough to satisfy you if that's your main reason for seeing the film. (For instance, you get to see a little shrine that Ibrahim Ferrer put up in his house and in which he makes offerings of rum, perfume, and honey, but there's no real discussion of religion in Cuban society at large.)

Basically, I enjoyed it. And it kept me out of the heat for a couple of hours. So good.