Its hard for me to review this, as I have seen very few feature length documentaries, in fact I don't think I've seen any, apart from this one,

However, I know that I enjoyed this, and was even a little moved at times. The film follows Ry Cooder in his re-grouping of the band he put together in 1996 from some of the greatest Cuban musicians of the twentieth century, which resulted in the grammy-award winning album, Buena Vista Social Club.

All of the members of the band are in their 80's or 90's, and were long forgotten before the album was put together, and its fantastic to see these wonderful characters get the success and respect that they deserve.

Buy the Poster!

The film is a little slow at the start, but as the music gets more lively, and you get to know more about the musicians, it grows on you, and you walk out of the cinema humming their tunes with a big grin on your face. You probably need to be a musician though to fully appreciate this film, as some of the best moments are just watching these amazing artists at work.

Overall, Its a lovingly crafted piece, with a fantastic soundtrack.

8/10

David Brook
David's Film Page