Fados

As often as not art is comprehended not within the axiomatic framework of elements proposed by the artist, but within the context created by the audiences, based on their cultural boundaries and "pre-concepts". In the case of "Fados", it is clearly the aim of Saura, to the regrettable anguish of a few people, to portray a music genre which for many decades had been confined within the realms of its country of origin, Portugal. But then came the Goddess Amalia, who dared to "break the rules", taking all her wonderful energy to the four corners of our planet, and suddenly, as by a magic spell or charm, Potugal awoke, to realize that the whole world had already become aware, and ready to assimilate, what had been devalued and belittled. This music crossed the borders and influenced nations all over the world, causing astonishment in those nationals who never believed that could ever be possible, and who used to see it under the guise of a folk art manifestation, many times outside the limits of political correctness. - Saramago is more read in Spain alone, or Japan or Brazil, than in his own country (where 67% of the population never read any single book!) And most of his work only get published in Portugal after having become well accepted in other countries; his Nobel Prize is surely not due to his compatriot's acclaim or popularity - All in all to say that Fado finally may have become another matter of Portuguese delayed praise, both socially and politically (it could as well be challenged that it is still, in Portugal, a regionalized capital's possession, for some purists do not even recognize its performance outside the auspices of Lisbon's district "Bairro Alto".) But that acceptance does not justify whoops of nationalistic appropriation, for it is now, by merit and history, living in a much wider sphere, transmuted and amalgamated to suit the idiosyncrasies of all cultures that embraced it. Carlos Saura film beautifully shows how this can be so true.

Of the 5 previously-posted reviews, I thought the one by "sezme" the most perceptive. So far, though, no one has explained that Fado (pronounced fah' doo) is an intimate art form, consisting, at minimum, of a female or male singer accompanied by a plucked-string instrument. The essential accompaniment is the high-pitched, mandolin-like 12-string Portuguese guitar. In most contemporary settings, a conventional ("Spanish") guitar adds the bass notes. The songs are passionate and intense but not necessarily tragic nor somber. One of the film's greatest services is to show, via the excellent subtitles, the sublime folk poetry that makes up much of the lyrics of Fado.

A principal intention of the filmmakers was to present Fado as a trans-cultural phenomenon, an art form which has been translated and transmuted through the cultural lenses of many peoples, especially those of the former colonies of Portugal. They certainly succeeded in this intention, although the various submissions were of varied quality and, obviously, did not suit the taste of some of the reviewers. For me, the low point of the film was the "rap" selection, an abominable form in general and particularly egregious in this setting. The pattern of audience applause after each segment, established at the beginning of the film, was broken here — by my loud "boo" — which elicited knowing chuckles from other members of the audience.

Given the film's scope, it is hard to fault the inclusion of dance. Some of it worked fairly well, other examples not so well. None of the choreography could be called inspired. One advantage of the world-wide excursion through forms of lesser quality, at least for me, was the enhanced joy produced by the return to "pure" Fado, which made up most of the later portion of the film. I especially liked the scene in the "night club," with three Fadistas, two female, one male, engaging in a sort of competitive conversation.

All in all, "Fados" is a rare internationalist endeavor, a film about Portuguese culture made in Spain, where awareness of its less populous neighbor is, perhaps, even lower than that of Canada in the U.S. Allowing for a few misguided camera effects and hokey "fado" incarnations, this film remains a genuine work of art, an expression of overwhelmingly good taste in a time when that is a scarce commodity. Carlos Saura and company should be very proud!

Barry Freed

I've been dreaming about this film. Despite i've seen this some months ago, i didn't comment on it before because i wanted to understand how it would fit in my imagination. And it has been moving my dreams in ways i had never experienced before. This is a milestone work, and i am marking it as a film one should necessarily watch in order to get maximum range of what moving images can give you.

I had experienced the musical genre according to Saura's vision. This one tops what he had done previously with Iberia and Flamenco. He topped everything he had done before in this area. The thing with this is: i'm not sure i watched cinema here. I watched a composition, which concerns music, plastic development of sets based on the feeling they cause, framing, camera movement and so on. So, Saura plays with the whole deck of cards. He plays with camera, sound and image/composition. He uses all the possibilities, and oh, he knows so well where he wants to go.

Probably, as a Portuguese i connect with this more specially. Fado is an work in progress, it is a form of expression that jumped out of the "neighbourhood". Amália Rodrigues tried to cross barriers, she looked for making Fado something more jazzy in the way it could play with more notes, breaking forms, and even breaking the idea of rigid forms. Ary dos Santos was her equivalent in what concerns lyrics (and he supported in this quest the upcoming Carlos do Carmo, who performs here). But when Amália started, she had fascism supporting "traditional" and fado had necessarily to play the cultural role of supporting the soul of the people, and the health of the empire. So she could never take the music to a whole new level, as it is being done in recent years.

Mariza shows now, well supported by the right people, and she took musically fado to a new artistic level. Fado is also music, Morelembaum told her. New musical developments are taking its way. And now we have this. Here the question becomes more universal and has to do with other "sports". Several parallel forms of expression, which intersect fado without being exactly fado. Over those expressions, Saura places flat colored surfaces, and he uses them at his will, to bring out the best all the numbers (dance or music) have to offer. So, he uses mirrors to multiply the area or to reflect movements he cares about, and he uses strong colors, usually to place faces against them. Here he can achieve in moments genius. I dream about that yellowed orange, i believe i cried a tear in my sit over that orange. The genius here comes when Saura is able to use all the media he has in order to bring out the value of music. He creates a new form of art, that may be beyond cinema, something between the happening and the installation, but oh much more interesting than any of these. Curiously, 2007 also gave us a film i consider essential, Caótica Ana by Medem, another spaniard, and in this film i commented on a specific scene which i considered to be something more than cinema, something which included the viewer. Very interesting, same year, same country. I believe the next step over this would be to place an architectural/spatial eye. That could come by studying the cinema architects (Welles, Tarkovsky, Antonioni...) and emulate them, or turning this into a physical real experience, but there, cinema is gone. I would prefer seeing this done the first way.

My opinion: 5/5 I felt i was watching to the construction of a new medium, of something never seen before. I enjoyed the sensation

I had the privilege to see "Fados" yesterday, at its premiere in Lisbon. I'm also a Saura's fan, since "Cria Cuervos" (1975) and I saw most of his films, including the famous Flamenco trilogy (Bodras De Sangre, Carmen and Amor Brujo). I also saw and liked very much the following musicals, "Sevilhanas", "Flamenco" and "Tangos". But those were films where Saura could expressed his art on his own culture (with exception of "Tangos"). In "Fados" (an invitation of several Portuguese institutions to make a film to promote the Lisbon's song) Saura mixed too many things with no connection at all. The argument was that Fado was not popular enough and therefore he needed "big" names to promote it (?!). Well, you may say that Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Lilla Downs, Lura or Miguel Poveda are good singers. But they are certainly not fado singers! The other mistake was to mix modern dance with the songs. Fado has no dance element (like Flamenco or Tango) in it. It's a disturbing element that doesn't help the reality. One may hope that "Fados" will be a bestseller, but its not a serious film. It's a pity.

This movie captivated me. Although i must say it didn't do so from the very start. It took me a scene (and/or a song) to begin to submerge deeply into the feeling of the music that floods this tale of Saura. And it's been wonderful. Each song made me want to live it again a thousand times, i felt it resound inside my head and each singer moved me to the point where they gave me to carry all of their sorrow and burden.

Absolutely a must see for all of those who've been caught inside the music and don't know how - or don't want to - be set free. For all of you is this journey in which Carlos Saura invites us to go.

A journey that conjugates perfectly music, contemporary dance, scene art, costume design, lighting and of course cinema

Unfortunately there is occasions within the film in which this escapes perhaps too much from what we can refer to as the "real Fado". For example the scene where the raper NBC pays his tribute. I feel that's a fairly big - and unjustified - jump from the feeling that was building up throughout the film... this "saudade", that Portuguese people have so jealously kept for themselves, but that they tell us about it in Fado. Another black spot (in my judgment of course) it's the dancers in that same scene, who i presume - and hope - do an improvisation that's poorly accomplished, and seems more like a mockery than an interpretation of the music that NBC is singing. However, this little "impasse" is saved completely thanks to the great interpretation in the next scene from Carlos do Carmo.

Another great aspect of this film is that each scene it's different and appealing. Saura accomplish this experimenting with, as i was saying, the dance, light, scenery, costume, music or all of them at once.

A movie to feel.