Buena Vista Social Club

For my first film review, I chose to write about The Buena Vista Social Club. I was always interested in their music, so I thought that the film would be interesting as well. I really enjoyed it. The music in the background was a nice motif. There were so many qualities about this film that it made it approachable. It did not have the feeling of voyeurism that documentaries often have. I liked it because each aspect of the film played a separate role. The background of Havana was as important of a character as Ry Cooder, the man responsible for bringing the band together. The actual new music of the Buena Vista Social Club and the history of Cuba played equally important roles. The only other movie I had seen relating to Cuba was Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, although entertaining; I don’t think this movie was an actual representation of Cuba. It really brought back the lost music of Cuba. It showed us a community rather than a group of celebrities. I think that Cooder, the guitarist, was focused on a little too much but in all fairness it was his idea to make the movie. All in all, this was an excellent movie and gave great insight into Cuban culture.