Accordion Tribe (2004)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Stefan Schwietert

Release Date:

4 March 2005 (Austria)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Plot Keywords:

Musician | Accordion

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Guy Klucevsek	...	Himself
Lars Hollmer	...	Himself
Maria Kalaniemi	...	Herself
Bratko Bibic	...	Himself
Otto Lechner	...	Himself

Runtime:

Germany:87 min

Country:

Austria | Switzerland

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Certification:

Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Zurich)

Company:

Fischer Film

Amazing

I took accordion lessons from about the age of ten until I was sixteen and remember trying to defend it in a high school music theory class (I had no luck). I gave it up in favor of the saxophone (only slightly less disreputable) and then the violin and seldom gave a thought to the accordion,unless to wish I'd had the sense when I was a child to ask for piano lessons instead of the accordion .

All this is to say that I was only mildly curious when I saw this title on Link TV, "The Accordion Tribe," and I decided to watch it for a few minutes. But I couldn't stop watching--and listening. Not only is the music superb, but also the film conveys what it must feel like to be a musician--a superior musician--and what joy can come from playing in an ensemble of superior musicians.

Although the members of the "tribe" have in common a love of the accordion and a dazzling skill in playing it, they bring different orientations and sensibilities to the music. We come to understand how such contrasting styles can become a source of power as we see the musicians listening to each other while playing, echoing and amplifying and commenting in musical terms, with a smile or nod of the head communicating their pleasure, acknowledging each other's understanding.

More than once I was moved to tears, but, as others have suggested, the beautiful duet performed by the Finnish accordionist Maria Kalaniemi and a singer was a special occasion. I've never heard anything like it. But this was followed by another duet just as moving, with Maria Kalaniemi and the blind Austrian, Otto Lechner. Lechner, whose orientation is jazz, was remarkable throughout and highly articulate, witty in speech as well as in his music, but in this duet he soared.

The interweaving of the performers' talk with their music and travel is seamless. You feel you know each of them well by the end and hate to say goodbye. In a theater I would jump to my feet and shout, "Bravo, Bravissimo!"