Buena Vista Social Club (film)

Buena Vista Social Club is a 1999 documentary film directed by Wim Wenders about the music of Cuba. It is named for a danzón that became the title piece of the album Buena Vista Social Club. The film is an international co-production of Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Cuba.

Buena Vista Social Club
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Wim Wenders
Written by	Wim Wenders
Produced by	Ulrich Felsberg Deepak Nayar
Starring	see below
Cinematography	Jörg Widmer
Edited by	Brian Johnson
Production companies	Arte Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos Kintop Pictures Road Movies Filmproduktion Wim Wenders Stiftung
Distributed by	Senator Film (Germany) Artisan Entertainment (United States) FilmFour Distributors (United Kingdom) Mars Distribution (France) Summit Entertainment (International)
Release dates	17 February 1999 (1999-02-17) (BIFF) 4 June 1999 (1999-06-04) (United States)
Running time	105 minutes[1]
Countries	Germany Cuba United States United Kingdom France
Languages	English Spanish
Box office	$23 million[2]

In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".^[3]

Content

The film documents how Ry Cooder, a long-time friend of Wenders, brought together the ensemble of legendary Cuban musicians to record an album (also called Buena Vista Social Club) and to perform twice with a full line-up: in April 1998 in Amsterdam (two nights) and the 1st of July 1998 in the United States (at the Carnegie Hall, New York City). Although they are geographically close, travel between Cuba and the United States is restricted due to the political tension between the two countries, so many of the artists were travelling there for the first time. The film shows their reactions to this experience, as well as including footage of the resultant sell-out concert. It also includes interviews with each of the main performers.

Musicians

• Francisco Repilado, aka Compay Segundo (vocals and tres)
• Eliades Ochoa (vocals and guitar)
• Ry Cooder (slide guitar)
• Joachim Cooder, Ry's son (percussion)
• Ibrahim Ferrer (vocals, congas, claves, bongos)
• Omara Portuondo (vocals)
• Rubén González (piano)
• Orlando "Cachaito" López (Double bass)
• Amadito Valdés
• Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal (trumpet)
• Barbarito Torres (laúd)
• Pío Leyva
• Manuel "Puntillita" Licea (vocals)
• Juan de Marcos González (güiro)

Songs

1. "Chan Chan" (Francisco Repilado)
2. "Silencio" (Rafael Hernandez)
3. "Chattanooga Choo Choo" (Harry Warren and Mack Gordon)
4. "Dos Gardenias" (Isolina Carillo)
5. "Veinte Años" (María Teresa Vera)
6. "Y Tu Que Has Hecho?" (Eusebio Delfin)
7. "Black Bottom" (Ray Henderson, Lew Brown and B. G. De Sylva)
8. "Canto Siboney" (Ernesto Lecuona Casado)
9. "El Carretero" (Jose "Guillermo Portabales" Quesada del Castillo)
10. "Cienfuegos (tiene su guaguanco)" (Victor Lay)
11. "Begin the Beguine" (Cole Porter)
12. "Buena Vista Social Club" (Orestes Lopez, inventor of the mambo in 1937)
13. "Mandinga" (also known as "Bilongo", Guillermo Rodriguez Fiffe)
14. "Candela" (Faustino Oramas),
15. "Chanchullo" (Israel "Cachao" Lopez, the father of Cachaito)
16. "El Cuarto de Tula" (son/descarga, Sergio Siaba)
17. "Guateque Campesino" (Celia Romero "Guateque")
18. "Nuestra Ultima Cita" (Forero Esther)
19. "Quizás, Quizás, Quizás" (bolero by Oswaldo Farres)

Release

Critical reception

Buena Vista Social Club received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 92% score based on 48 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The consensus summarizes: "A hopeful gesture of cultural outreach set to an irresistible soundtrack, Buena Vista Social Club is an enriching and zesty experience."^[4] Metacritic reports an 81 out of 100 rating based on 19 critics.^[5]

Accolades

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2000.^[6] It won as best documentary in the European Film Awards as well as many others. The album Buena Vista Social Club features studio versions of the music heard in the film.

Influence

The film helped the musicians, some of them already in their nineties, become known to a worldwide audience, with some going on to release popular solo albums. These included Ibrahim Ferrer, Compay Segundo, Rubén González and Elíades Ochoa. The latter went on to support younger musicians making the same style of music beyond 2010 under the name "Buena Vista Social Club".

See also

• List of Cuban films
• Buena Vista Social Club: Adios