Buena Vista Social Club

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary/Music	Menu Audio and Animation Theatrical Trailer - 1.33:1, not 16x9, Dolby Digital 2.0 (1:25) Additional Scenes (3) Biographies - Cast Biographies - Crew Production Notes
Rating
Year Released	1999
Running Time	100:29 minutes (not 117 minutes as stated on packaging)
RSDL/Flipper	RSDL (?60:26 ?80:51)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region	4	Director	Wim Wenders
Studio Distributor	Road Movies  Magna Pacific	Starring	Ry Cooder Ibrahim Ferrer Ruben Gonzalez Eliades Ochoa Omara Portuondo Compay Segundo
Case	Click
RPI	$34.95	Music	Various

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	No	English (Dolby Digital 5.1, 448 Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Theatrical Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Macrovision	?	Smoking	Yes
Subtitles	English (burned-in)	Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Buena Vista Social Club is an unusual film in a number of ways, not the least of which is due to the fact that if it were not for an accident (as briefly explained in the film), the album and thus the documentary may never have been made. From such a small accident, a phenomenon has grown that has brought to the broader music stages of the world some of the gifted musicians who have lived and worked in the comparative isolation of Cuba for decades, unbeknownst to the Western world. Since the revolution in Cuba in 1959, Cuba has lived in something of a Marxist-Leninist time warp such that Havana of the late 1990s is very much the same as Havana in 1959 - right down to the cars. In this cultural time warp the ilk of Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez, Eliades Ochoa and many, many more virtually unknown outside of Cuba have worked and retired. Yet despite their age, in some cases into their late 80s or even 90s, when Ry Cooder went looking, they were found and brought into the studio to record an album that would rank as amongst the best of the 1990s.

   But this is so much more than just a documentary about a bunch of ageing musicians brought together for a recording session. It is a brilliant insight into a society where music is not just a diversion but rather an innate part of the life of the people. In many ways the story of Cuban music is the story of Cuban society in the post-revolutionary period. It is about the people and about the country. It is the story of bringing Cuban music to the world stage and allowing the musicians a chance to take their music to the world. Some of the most moving parts of the film are of the musicians coming to New York for a concert in Carnegie Hall and seeing how they react to the thriving metropolis of New York after the comparatively sedate lifestyle in Havana.

    The film copped an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary - Feature last year and I doubt that too many would argue with that after watching the film. This really is a wonderful film and is strongly recommended to all as an essential view, even if you have little interest in music. This really is so much more than music, even though the music is the unifying thread. Superb stuff indeed. However, you may want to consider sourcing the DVD from somewhere other than Region 4...

    And if you really love the music, the Buena Vista Social Club is touring Australia next month and should be an essential concert to catch.

Video

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced. Given the rather inconsistent application of the essential 16x9 enhancement by Magna Pacific, I suppose we should be grateful that we did at last get that. However, the rather misleading description of 16:9 Fullscreen version as stated on the back cover may have people believing otherwise as far as either the format or 16x9 enhancement goes.

    Okay, it was shot on video using Digital Betacam, so perhaps it was expecting too much to have this attain the same sort of quality as a feature film, but I really do not believe that these origins alone can excuse what we have been given on this transfer. In general terms the transfer is reasonably sharp, but there are plenty of lapses to be seen and the result is something that is a little too inconsistent for its own good. It never really gets unwatchable, but there are simply times where the lapses do disrupt the enjoyment of the film. Detail is in general also quite reasonable, bearing in mind that some of this is filmed in small rooms and on the streets where control over lighting is not going to be perfect. As a result, sometimes the loss of detail is just a tad noticeable even if not overly harmful to the film. Clarity is pretty good throughout, save for some loss where the lighting gets a little awry. There are some problems with grain in the transfer, mainly quite minor and not too overt. Low level noise does not appear to be much of an issue here. It is noticeable, however, that the second viewing of the DVD picked up far more problems than the first viewing, indicating that initially I was willing to overlook the problems for the sake of the enjoyment of the film and the music.

    The colours are quite naturally presented but obviously they are not especially bright or vibrant. There is certainly no problem at all as far as oversaturation is concerned and there did not seem to be any problem with colour bleed. The only real complaint is that perhaps there could have been a bit more saturation in the colours, so as to provide a bit more tonal depth to them, but this is probably not possible given the source material.

    But just where do you start with the artefacting problems here? Quite simply, the transfer is plagued with:

• Cross colouration problems - a particularly bad example is at 37:27 but this is by no means the only instance.
• Appalling shimmer/aliasing problems - especially in the video between 4:45 and 5:15 and an even uglier sequence between 54:35 and 60:15.
• Consistent loss of resolution in pan shots - an example of which is around the 8:00 mark amongst many that cannot be ignored.
• A fault across the very bottom of the transfer such that for most of the film there is a very distinct and ultimately very distracting solid and/or broken white line just above the black bar across the bottom of the film.

    This is an RSDL formatted DVD with the layer change coming either at 60:26 or at 80:51. The player goes into search mode at both of these points and obviously one of these is just a glitch in the mastering and not the layer change. Either way, the change is just a bit obvious as there is a distinct pause in the music accompanying the search at both of these points. If it is actually at 80:51, quite why it was not placed just a little earlier where there was no music I do not know.

    There are subtitles on the DVD to aid comprehension of the native tongue but regrettably they are burned in to the video stream and thus cannot be switched on or off.
 
 

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain
Film-to-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The dialogue comes across very well in the soundtrack and is generally easy to understand. Similarly the vocals come up very well. However, there appears to be a rather consistent problem with audio sync in the transfer and I just found it a tad too noticeable at times.

    The music comes from a variety of sources but reflects an awful lot of the mood of the Cubans and is utterly wonderful stuff. It is the focal point of the film and it commands that role well.

    The soundtrack is not at all a bad effort, with a rather nice difference in style between the documentary sections and the concert music sections. The concert music is an obvious 5.1 effort with plenty of action out of the bass channel and the surround channels, and this really is a fine example of how genuine music should be mastered. Conversely, the documentary sections are presented with significantly less surround and bass channel presence and almost sounds like Dolby Digital 2.0 in comparison. This actually suits the film very well and serves to aid understanding of the dialogue sections, whilst providing a nice contrast to the concert sections. With no obvious faults beyond the audio sync, this really is a winner of a soundtrack as far as presentation of the music is concerned.
 
 

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

Theatrical Trailer (1:25)

Additional Scenes (3)

Biographies - Cast

Biographies - Crew

Production Notes

• Audio commentary by Wim Wenders (Director) - described in one source as heartfelt

    However, if the NTSC 3:2 pulldown creates a problem for you, then perhaps you should consider the Region 2 release of the film. Whilst it appears that it may contain only one deleted scene and does not have the biographies, it does come with a nice little 16 page booklet by some accounts and includes the audio commentary. PAL formatting, 16x9 enhancement and the audio commentary? Make mine Region 2 please! Guess what I shall be seeking out during my forthcoming visit to London?

    On another note, this is another package that looks so much better when the crappy case the DVD comes in is swapped for a nice transparent genuine Amaray case.
 
 

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ian Morris (have a laugh, check out the bio)
18th January 2001