September 2000

The Buena Vista Social Club
Reviewed by Roger Kanno
DVD Format

Overall Enjoyment:
Picture Quality:
Sound Quality:
Packaged Extras:

Starring Ry Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén Gonzalez, Eliades Ochoa, Omara Portuondo, Compay Segundo

Directed by Wim Wenders

Theatrical Release: 1999
DVD Release: 1999
Dolby Digital 5.1
Full Screen

Ry Cooder’s hugely successful Buena Vista Social Club CD featured many of Cuba’s great, but forgotten folk musicians. This critically acclaimed album went on to win a Grammy award for best Tropical Latin Performance in 1998. Cooder, a long-time favorite amongst the audiophile crowd for his mastery of the acoustic guitar and the superb quality of his recordings had his first mainstream hit with this album. In 1998 he returned to Cuba to record with some of the same musicians and to capture them on film in the Oscar nominated, Buena Vista Social Club documentary film.

This is not a concert film, but it does contain performances taken from the group’s concerts in Amsterdam and Carnegie Hall. This may disappoint fans of the album which featured not only many great performances, but also excellent sonics. Many of the songs from the album are in the film, but they are not presented in their entirety or are intercut with other scenes. The Buena Vista Social Club documentary concentrates mainly on interviews with the Cuban musicians and allows their stories to unfold naturally during interludes that focus on observations of everyday life in Cuba.

Director Wim Wenders states a resolution in the production notes, "To try and do justice to these amazing people and let the music speak for itself." While the subjects of the film are treated with respect, I wish that I were able to learn more about the music and the musicians. For instance, during their interviews most of the musicians speak of growing up in Cuba and how they were first exposed to music, but they do not explain what drives them to continue making music or what it really means to them. The most interesting and touching interview is with pianist Rubén Gonzalez who recounts his early years with various bands as he displays his treasured photographs of departed friends. Ry Cooder manages to remain in the background during much of the film, but perhaps the most insightful moment of the film occurs when he describes the musical journey that first led him to Cuba to record the original album.

The film was shot mostly on Sony Betacam along with Handycams providing point-of-view shots. The quality of the Betacam video is good for the most part, but lacks some detail and color fidelity. Especially bright colors such as reds, oranges, and yellows appear over saturated and sometimes cause the colors to bleed. The Handycam shots are unsteady and understandably are of lower quality, but are used only sparingly. The audio quality of the film is good, but nowhere near the quality of the album. Although the concert scenes have a wide soundstage with good individual imaging of instruments, those that have heard the album will be disappointed by the sonics of this film.

The Buena Vista Social Club has received good treatment on DVD from Artisan Home Entertainment. It features audio commentary by Wim Wenders, a theatrical trailer, cast and crew biographies, production notes, and additional scenes that include two songs. While not up to their standards of the excellent Suicide Kings release or the expectations for T2: Ultimate Edition, Artisan gets full marks for this DVD. However, if like me you find yourself feeling a bit unsatisfied after watching this film, just do what I did. Listen to the album for a while.

GO TO
[ Current Video Online Issue ] [ Video Review Archives ]