To tell you the truth, we all agreed to meet and watch Hotel Rwanda... except that I showed up at the wrong cinema, bought the wrong ticket and didn't notice a thing until the movie actually started... I almost left. But then (having payed 6,00 to go inside), I decided to give it a shot. It turns out that the film was not that bad, really! OK, everyone in the audience looked like an accordion player (I'd say there's lots of them around!!!). Yeah, and the start is sort of slow. But once you get in the mood, and you start to enjoy the "emotional reportage" kind of approach that Stefan Schwietert chose, you actually appreciate it.
This is a documentary about 5 accordion musicians - one American-Slovenian, one real Slovenian, one Finnish, one Swedish and one Austrian. They all get together to... well, you guessed, play accordion! It's the story of how they got together, how they organized their tour, how they learned about each other's very different backgrounds, but also their common love for music. Above all, it's a very honest, sensitive, beautiful and actually touching portrait of pure love for music. Perhaps the most touching of all is the way Maria Kalaniemi (from Finland, and the only woman in the group) views it. Her matter-of-fact attitude is very "Suomi-woman", she seems more reserved than all the others, but her part of the story was the most poetic, almost lyrical. Imagine Finland in the Summer: a lake, barely anyone around, and she plays and sings with another woman in that beautiful, musical and poetic language. I would be omitting something important if I didn't tell you I had tears in my eyes. I had. And that is exactly the way she feels her music, and the way she wants people to feel her music: to, despite not understanding the words, being able to feel how strong the melody and the storyline are. Undoubtedly, one of the nicest pieces of music I've heard. I hope they have a sound-track.
