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Fados (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:20
Fresh:19
Rotten:1
Average Rating:7.6/10
Consensus: Even those unfamiliar with the Portuguese soul music at the heart of Carlos Saura's film will find it a beautifully enchanting work of cinema.
Theatrical Release:Mar 6, 2009 Limited
Synopsis:
Fados completes the musical trilogy of award-winning Carlos Saura (Flamenco, 1995; Tango,
1998). Using Lisbon as a backdrop, he explores Portugal’s most emblematic musical genre
(fado) and its...
Fados completes the musical trilogy of award-winning Carlos Saura (Flamenco, 1995; Tango,
1998). Using Lisbon as a backdrop, he explores Portugal’s most emblematic musical genre
(fado) and its haunting spirit of saudade (melancholy). Tracing its African and Brazilian origins up
to the new wave of modern faudistas, he ingeniously deploys mirrors, back projections, lighting
effects, and lush colors to frame each song, ranging from a campfire ringed by sinuous dancers
to a balletic catfight between two jealous women to a thrilling desgarrada (musical duel) in a fado
café. The result is a ravishing fusion of cinema, song, dance and instrumental numbers.
Fados contains homages to such legends as Maria Severa and Amália Rodrigues, as well as
stunning turns by modern stars like Mariza and Camané; but Saura also expands the songs
(which traditionally involve just a singer and a guitarist) with dance and encompasses other
nationalities (with a special emphasis on performers of color from Portugal’s former colonies) and
idioms (such as hip hop, flamenco and reggae). This inclusive, non-purist approach conveys a
grand vision of music’s power to break down boundaries: between Iberian neighbors Spain and
Portugal, Old World and New, white and black, young and old, rich and poor -- a celebration of
fado as World Music in the fullest sense of the term. Under the musical supervision of Carlos do
Carmo, Fados features one of the finest “World Music” soundtracks to date. --© New Yorker Films
Starring: Mariza, Ricardo Ribeiro, Camane, Ricardo Rocha
Starring: Mariza, Ricardo Ribeiro, Camane, Ricardo Rocha, Carlos Do Carmo, NBC, Cuca Roseta, SP, Catarina Moura, Wilson
Director: Carlos Saura
Director: Carlos Saura
Producer: Ivan Dias, Luis Galvao Teles, Antonio Saura
Studio: New Yorker Films
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Release:
Nov 30, 1999
Reviews for Fados
For those who've never before heard fado, Fados will be a revelation -- a window into a music that (like blues music) can be poetic, heartbreaking, melodramatic and redemptive, all at the same time.
If you're disquieted by something in your life, 88 minutes with this collection of Fados will calm your innermost travails, guaranteed.
Fados is basically a collection of musical performances by two dozen practitioners of the form, but Saura always finds a way to make it cinematic.
[Director] Saura's personal love of fado goes back to his youth, and Fados reflects what is clearly his deeply imaginative, inner relationship with the genre's songs about loss, shifting hopes and elusive happiness.
That you very likely know nothing about who those legends are concerns Saura not at all; made for aficionados, Fados is virtually context-free.
Fados isn't just a director's look at one genre of music, it's a celebration of the special relationship between music, dance and film.
A soulful and enchanting celebration of fados that will delight fans both old and new.
In total, there are more than a dozen performance pieces, all stylishly lensed.
I was familiar with the fado style, but had never heard of any of the performers here, and I still loved this.
Magically, not a traditional tour of the sweet home of fados. . . though some repeated projections become precious, clearly places fados in the world music pantheon.
Fados is Carlos Saura’s big-screen film about the musical genre that is the soul music of Portugal.
Carlos Saura’s documentary on the Portuguese musical tradition of fado is an inviting and immersive experience, the third piece of a song-and-dance triptych that also includes Flamenco (1995) and Tango (1998).
Casts a wondrous spell as the third installment of the Spanish director’s musical trilogy, which also includes Flamenco (1995) and Tango (1998).
Saura is formally ambitious -- a troupe travels through the film, articulating lyrics in dance -- but the movie missteps when departing wholly from the intrinsic nostalgia of its subject.
Carlos Saura's valentine to fado, Portugal's blues music, is exciting despite the director's imposition of dance production numbers which add a note of dissonance.
Impressive enough though the least passionate of Carlos Saura's trilogy that includes 'Tango' and 'Flamenco.'
What Fados lacks in jaw-dropping sexiness it makes up for in casual sensuality.
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