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| A man walks on a street in Havana on this inviting poster for Wim Wenders' Buena Vista Social Club |
An American record producer has gathered a group of otherwise forgotten Cuban musicians, who despite their advanced age give sound to impressively soulful music, which takes the world by storm.
Buena Vista Social Club is written and directed by Wim Wenders (Summer in the City (1971)), with Nick Gold contributing to the concept.
This is a pleasant and very picturesque music documentary. It features incredibly lovely camera work (by Jörg Widmer (Bach in Brazil (2015))), which heightens the episodic, fragmented, plotless presentation. The music is beautiful, - but the portrait also nearly sainctifies the musicians.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: 23.1 mil. $
= Uncertain - but likely a mega-hit
[Buena Vista Social Club premiered 17 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 105 minutes. Shooting took place in Havana, Cuba, New York and the Netherlands. The film was likely made for a limited budget of 1-2 mil. $, which would rank it as a mega-hit with a return of 11.55 - 23.1. The film opened #32 to a 127k $ first weekend in 15 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #20 and in 74 theaters (different weeks), grossing 7 mil. $ (30.3 % of the total gross). The film was nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar, lost to One Day in September. It was also nominated for 3 BAFTAs and won a European Film Award and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Wenders was not involved with the follow-up documentary Buena Vista Social Club: Adios (2017, documentary). Wenders returned with The Million Dollar Hotel (2000). Buena Vista Social Club is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Buena Vista Social Club?
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