Superb Cuban Music Saves ‘Social Club’

One of my favorite birthday gifts ever was the CD “The Buena Vista Social Club.” This compilation of Cuban rhythms, played by a gaggle of talented musicians - some of whom were in their 80s and 90s - deservedly won a 1997 Grammy.

So I was pleased to be able to squeeze into a screening of Wim Wenders’ documentary of the same name at last summer’s Seattle International Film Festival. The sell-out crowd of music fans was set to dance in the aisles.

Then the movie started.

So, OK, Wenders - the noted German filmmaker of such moody existentialist studies as “Wings of Desire” and “Until the End of the World” - didn’t exactly ruin the experience. The music is too good for that to happen, the musicians too adept at their trade. The audience swayed in response.

But Wenders (pronounce it “Venders”) sure tried. Too interested in making a “film,” he wasn’t content to follow the leads of other major directors - Martin Scorsese and “The Last Waltz,” for example, or Jonathan Demme and “Stop Making Sense” - and do something as mundane as simply capture the feel of a good concert. No, Wenders had to remind us constantly that a master is at work.

He does provide the back story: In 1996, guitarist, composer and music producer Ry Cooder traveled to Cuba looking for traditional West African/Cuban sounds. The musicians he was looking for were away, so he scouted around and found a workable substitute: a number of players and singers, many of whom began their performing careers in the 1950s at what became known as The Buena Vista Social Club.

And gradually we get to know each of these performers, from the soulful singer Ibrahim Ferrer, 72, to the agile pianist Ruben Gonzalez, 77, from the cigar-smoking, guitar-picking Compay Segundo, 92, to 50-something diva Omara Portuondo. We get to hear them sing and play, both on stage (in Amsterdam and in New York’s Carnegie Hall) and in rehearsal.

Throughout, Wenders and his team of cinematographers (Jorg Widmer shot the Cuban footage) follow Cooder and the rest of the band. We tour some of Havana’s back streets and see firsthand the effects of its dreadful poverty. We even cut to the band’s concert tour and watch individual members ogle Manhattan souvenir shops.

All of this sounds great, right? And much of it is. We get to know enough of Ferrer, for example, to care about him and to revel in the fact that he has cut two more CDs and is scheduled to perform international concerts well into the new year.

But Wenders isn’t content to just let his movie flow naturally. He’s always manipulating time and space, having his cameraman swoop and circle his performers like image-hungry birds of prey. Few moments play out to their natural ends.

Worse, hardly a musical number is presented from start to finish. And even when it is, Wenders’ cameras continually pan back to Cooder instead of staying with the Cuban performers as they should.

So what does this say about the movie overall? Basically, that it’s too bad somebody else didn’t direct. “The Buena Vista Social Club” could have been a superb concert film.

As it is, it’s still pretty good. And when you consider how good the music is, criticism of the movie doesn’t really amount to much anyway.

Just close your eyes and let the music carry you away.

This sidebar appeared with the story: “The Buena Vista Social Club” *** Location: The Met Credits: Directed by Wim Wenders, featuringthe music of Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez, Compay Segundo, Omara Portuondo, Eliades Ochoa, Ry Cooder. Running time: 1:41. Rating: Not rated (but equivalent to a PG).