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Fados (2007)

tomatometer

96

Average Rating: 7.6/10
Reviews Counted: 26
Fresh: 25 | Rotten: 1

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.

100

Average Rating: 7.4/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 0

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.

audience

79

liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 1,268

My Rating

Movie Info

If references to the fado -- an ancient Portuguese form of music -- fail to strike a chord with even the most cultured American viewers, this is only attributable to the genre's longtime obscurity. A Portuguese musical mode borne out of early 19th century Lisbon, and characterized by long, ornate, emotionally heavy ballads lamenting lost loves and shattered dreams, the fado began to experience a stunning and unpredicted resurgence in the early 21st century. Carlos Saura's 2007 documentary Fados

Oct 20, 2009

New Yorker Films

All Critics (26) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (25) | Rotten (1)

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.

June 5, 2009 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Never is his film less than cinematic.

May 21, 2009 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
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That you very likely know nothing about who those legends are concerns Saura not at all; made for aficionados, Fados is virtually context-free.

April 9, 2009 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
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In total, there are more than a dozen performance pieces, all stylishly lensed.

March 6, 2009 Full Review Source: New York Post | Comment
New York Post
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Fados is Carlos Saura's big-screen film about the musical genre that is the soul music of Portugal.

March 6, 2009 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
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Casts a wondrous spell as the third installment of the Spanish director's musical trilogy, which also includes Flamenco (1995) and Tango (1998).

March 4, 2009 Full Review Source: New York Observer | Comment
New York Observer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The third segment in Carlos Saura's musical trilogy that also includes Flamenco and Tango.

July 3, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

The effect is a coldly theatrical counterpoint to the hot-blooded sentiments. MORE REVIEWS bullet See an archive of recent movie reviews bullet Joe's Movie Lounge blog bullet Reel Time forum bullet Movie showtimes bullet Movie theaters

June 11, 2009 Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Comment
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

If you're disquieted by something in your life, 88 minutes with this collection of Fados will calm your innermost travails, guaranteed.

May 23, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | Comment
Cinema Signals

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.

May 8, 2009 Comment
Kansas City Star

[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.

April 23, 2009 Full Review Source: Seattle Times | Comment
Seattle Times

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.

April 2, 2009 Full Review Source: Paste Magazine | Comment
Paste Magazine

A soulful and enchanting celebration of fados that will delight fans both old and new.

March 6, 2009 Full Review Source: NYC Movie Guru | Comment
NYC Movie Guru

Will speak to ethnomusicologists and cineastes alike.

March 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | Comment
Boxoffice Magazine

I was familiar with the fado style, but had never heard of any of the performers here, and I still loved this.

March 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid

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.

March 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Film-Forward.com | Comment
Film-Forward.com
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Fados

Not a piece of fiction or a documentary, Fados is a musical journey, featuring major artists from the Portuguese speaking world. And a great journey it is, taking the Fado genre and exploring its history and interpretations. From the back street bars of Alfama we travel to Mozambique for some African fusion, Cabo Verde

February 7, 2010
Rebel Tomato
Luke Peters

Absolutely fabulous! I saw it thousands of times. Hipnotic! An experience! Saura at his best!

January 10, 2010
Ivan D.
Ivan Dias

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