Música cubana (2004)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

German Kral

Writers:

German Kral (writer)
Stephan Puchner (writer)

Release Date:

30 September 2004 (Germany)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

The next generation

Cast

Pío Leyva	...	Himself
Bárbaro Marín	...	Taxi Driver
Mario 'Mayito' Rivera	...	Himself
Pedro 'El Nene' Lugo Martínez	...	Himself
Telmary Díaz	...	Himself
Osdalgia Lesmes	...	Herself
Luis Frank Arias	...	Himself
Tirso Duarte	...	Himself
Roberto Carcassés	...	Himself
Samuel Formell	...	Himself
Feliciano Arango	...	Himself
Julio Padrón	...	Himself
Juan 'Cotó' Antomarchi Padilla	...	Himself
Chiki Chaka	...	Themselves

Runtime:

Germany:90 min | Argentina:90 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Cuba | Germany | Japan

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Netherlands:AL | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Cuba

Company:

Victory Media Group

Poor sequel to Buena Vista Social Club

I went to see this movie with relatively high expectations, as I really enjoyed Buena Vista. I have to say that the first 30 minutes I was really disappointed, but more to the end, it got a bit better. If you haven't seen the first one, this might be an enjoyable experience. If you did, don't have your hopes too high.

The producers clearly wanted to make some money piggybacking on the success of Buena Vista. The plot is as bad as a cheap porn movie, lines and actors are second hand. The musicians are OK, but they only give the westerner eye what it wants to see: Latin machos who cry when they talk about their mothers ("I have only two women in my life: my mother and my wife. My mother always comes first"), children singing "Hasta Siempre", pictures of Che Guevara everywhere, etc. I couldn't connect to the atmosphere at all, everything seemed a bit "engineered".

The music is not bad, it's quite good in fact. They found some young artists, with new ideas so the sound is more diverse (some rap moments, funky bass, etc). This is probably the biggest merit of this movie, showing some of the less-known side of Cuban music. However, the best moments come from the songs we already know from Buena Vista. To sum it up, it's a movie about Cuban music, with some dialogs to glue it up. Buena Vista, without the authenticity, originality and documentary flavor.