Wenders' only success of the 1990s was this Oscar-nominated
documentary, charting his friend and collaborator Ry Cooder's
re-discovery of a forgotten generation of Cuban musicians. It could
hardly fail, given the charisma of stars like Compay Segundo, a
nonagenarian who still plays the guitar and wants more children; or
Ibrahim Ferrer, a singer in his seventies regarded as highly as Nat King
Cole, who earned a living by shining shoes. Inter-weaving music with
interviews, the film climaxes with concerts in New York and Amsterdam,
where the Cubans' reactions to the material affluence around them -
contrasted with the decay of Havana - give the film political as well as
emotional resonance.
