Flamenco

The focus in this work is on the performers and their performances. Sets are minimal and there is no "story" except that generated by the lyrics of the flamenco songs themselves. The director is careful to capture not only the larger aspects of the performances but also to zero in on the emotional engagement of the performers with their art . Flamenco is as much about the performer's struggles with the art and the emotions that underpin it as it is about a stage presentation. This is an intimate film despite the fact that it was shot in a train station. The sets, lighting and camera work continually direct your focus to that intimate space created by the performers.

The conceit of the film is a journey not only through flamenco's different styles as embodied by some of the art's greatest contemporary performers, but also a journey into the night. Not only is the night evoked through lighting effects, but the deep inner recesses of the soul are suggested as well, that inner wellspring from which flamenco itself arises.

This is the most profound exploration of flamenco ever captured on film. To understand flamenco, there is no better place to start than with Carlos Saura's masterpiece, "Flamenco."


Another flamenco masterpiece from Saura   March 12, 2002
classicmoviefan (Rancho Mirage, CA)
45 out of 48 found this review helpful

I dare you to find a better documentarian on the art of flamenco than Saura. Simply bringing this obsure but masterful artform to video is magical enough, but to have Saura do it is miraculous. He has chosen from the best that could be gathered in Spain, and did an awesome job putting them on a 2 hour tape. They only criticism is that this is not available on DVD, but no matter, it is a MUST for anyone who is a true flamenco purist or musicologist. The piece is beautifully staged, perfectly photographed and ingeniously edited.


Great lineup, sterile handling   May 15, 1999
40 out of 44 found this review helpful

Carlos Saura has cornered the market for flamenco movies today, from his 'Carmen' and 'Bodas de Sangre'. The long career has given him access to Spain's top artists working today. Unfortunately he has not seen fit to change his doggedly austere style, throwing artists into a stark empty room hoping to induce a more somber, and presumably purer, more dignified and more respectable Art.

This may be good politics, but makes for bad art. Like it or not, the soul of flamenco cannot be torn from the Andalucian sun and earth and still live. Like Argentine tango and jazz, it is at its most vibrant and purposeful when it's at home among its people.

A much better intro to flamenco, which showcases this living link, would be "Duende y Misterio del Flamenco", "Los Tarantos" by legend Carmen Amaya, or the many Spanish TV documentaries like "Caminos Flamencos" or "Anos de Flamenco" (with many of the same artists), available from Catalina's (catalinas@aol.com)


Genial direction and cinematography; excellent flamenco.   September 15, 1999
39 out of 41 found this review helpful

C. Saura captivates the existential essence of flamenco in this elegant film, which is a chronology of the hours starting at sunset and ending at dawn; where each episodes is told within a flamenco capsule. This film is not a documentary, nor is it the live footage of a flamenco troop's performance, rather it contains a series of complete pieces, each of which are perfect. The film contains three soleares, three bulerias, two tangos, one seguiriya, one fandango, and a handful of other styles. This film is the wisdom of Saura, showing again, that films are not meant to be uni-dimensional accounts of a curious story, or an obvious documentary. The film is from the heart full of the love and sincerity of those who participated in it, containing the most intimate and dignified performances of each of the living geniuses of the Flamenco industry. Each artist freely reaches and evokes their most cherished aesthetics. This is very important because flamenco is just about that, not about fooling the audience. The distractions of the common footage are removed as Storraro (the cameraman) gives himself up, flying around the performers seizing the impossible: moving to the compas of the performers, showing all the angles of the true flamenco expression.