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Buena Vista Social Club

Buena Vista Social Club

MusicDocumentary

1999, Movie, 1h 45min

Traveling from the streets of Havana to the stage of Carnegie Hall, this revelatory documentary captures a forgotten generation of Cuba’s brightest musical talents as they enjoy an unexpected encounter with world fame. The veteran vocalists and instrumentalists collaborated with American guitarist and roots-music champion Ry Cooder to form the Buena Vista Social Club, playing a jazz-inflected mix of cha-cha, mambo, bolero, and other traditional Latin American styles, and recording an album that won a Grammy and made them an international phenomenon. In the wake of this success, director Wim Wenders filmed the ensemble’s members—including golden-voiced Ibrahim Ferrer and piano virtuoso Rubén González—in a series of illuminating interviews and live performances. The result is one of the most beloved documentaries of the 1990s, and an infectious ode to a neglected corner of Cuba’s prerevolutionary heritage.

Country: United Kingdom,France,Cuba,Germany,United States

Director:

Cast:

Carlos González,

Omara Portuondo,

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Critic rating

Average critic rating

7.0

Reviews

Critic Neil Jeffries

rated

8

What Wenders found is a musical education for pupils of all ages, but beneath its rich soundtrack it also paints a very human picture...

Read full review at Empire

Critic Russell Smith

rated

6

...a set of cinematic liner notes about the vanishing musical culture.

Read full review at The Austin Chronicle

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