Buena Vista Social Club

"Who wrote it and are they still living? We want more of those people." This, according to a member of the supergroup Buena Vista Social Club, was the beginning of Ry Cooder's quest to recruit Cuban musicians for his classic Grammy-winning album of the same name. There really was, we are told, a Buena Vista Social Club, where Cuba's best bands played in the 1940s and '50s. Not a traditional concert film nor a behind-the-scenes look at how the chart-topping record was made, Wim Wenders documentary profiles the remarkable musicians, many in their 70s, 80s and 90s, who, long forgotten in their own country, improbably find themselves in a recording studio and onstage (in Amsterdam and New York's Carnegie Hall) playing the music they love for enraptured audiences. The performance footage is pure pleasure and the interviews are priceless. Most memorable are "the Cuban Nat King Cole" Ibraham Ferrer, who was shining shoes to survive when Cooder found him, and randy 90-year-old singer Compay Segundo, who talks about fathering another child. One wishes that less footage was devoted to, say, Cooder and his son tooling around Havana on a motorbike, and more to the artists and their music. Still, those who love the album will be eager to join the "Club." Recommended. (K. Lee Benson)[Blu-ray/DVD Review—Apr. 18, 2017—Criterion, 105 min., in Spanish w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: 2 discs, $29.95; Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1999's Buena Vista Social Club sports a fine transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include audio commentary by director Wim Wenders, radio interviews from 2000 with various musicians (96 min.), a 1998 “Les Claves” TV segment featuring musician Compay Segundo (60 min.), an interview with Wenders (26 min.), additional scenes (22 min.), and an essay by author and geographer Joshua Jelly-Schapiro. Bottom line: this critically acclaimed and commercially successful documentary looks and sounds sharp on Blu-ray.]