In 1996, Cuban bandleader Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, British producer Nick Gold, and American guitarist Ry Cooder convened in Havana to produce a Cuban-Malian collaboration. When the Malians couldn’t get visas, the team turned their attention to reviving a forgotten generation of legendary son cubano musicians and formed an on-the-fly ensemble: the Buena Vista Social Club. Two decades since that fateful first session, we catch up to these master musicians, as they reflect on the magical unfolding of their lives—from humble origins to the evolution and surprising revival of their careers, all against the backdrop of Cuba’s dramatic history. Brimming with unseen concert, rehearsal, and archival footage, this film is an emotional, shimmering celebration of music’s power to transcend age, ideologies, and class, and to connect us to each other through our souls.
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Reviews
This is a strange film, as it is a documentary of a documentary! Though that actually doesn't take much away from it, as it is a good film on it's own! Since the musicians in the first film were older back then, it stands to reason that not everyone is still alive in this one, and that brought some sweet sadness to my eyes. But I learned much more about the "main" musicians, and the older footage of them made me smile, and twice, laugh! The only thing this film "suffers" from is repetition - both by using clips from the first film and by repeating some of the origin stories, sometimes verbatim. On the other hand, I loved seeing President Obama and being reminded of what a true leader looks, and acts, like! A good follow up/ending to the Buena Vista Social Club!
