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Movies / On DVD / Fados
Fados

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Fados (2009)

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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.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

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 [More]

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

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Fados completes the musical trilogy of award-winning director Carlos Saura (Flamenco, 1995; Tango, 1998). Using Lisbon as a backdrop, he explores Portugal’s most emblematic musical genre, fado. Tracing its 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 and dance.
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    Reviews for Fados

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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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    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

    Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
    06/11/09
    Joe Williams
    Joe Williams
    St. Louis Post-Dispatch

    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.

    Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
    06/05/09
    Jonathan Curiel
    Jonathan Curiel
    San Francisco Chronicle
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

    Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
    05/23/09
    Jules Brenner
    Jules Brenner
    Cinema Signals

    Never is his film less than cinematic.

    Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
    05/21/09
    Kevin Thomas
    Kevin Thomas
    Los Angeles Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    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.

    Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
    05/08/09
    Robert W. Butler
    Robert W. Butler
    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.

    Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
    04/23/09
    Tom Keogh
    Tom Keogh
    Seattle Times

    That you very likely know nothing about who those legends are concerns Saura not at all; made for aficionados, Fados is virtually context-free.

    Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
    04/09/09
    Dan Kois
    Dan Kois
    Washington Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    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.

    Full Review Source: Paste Magazine | comment Comment
    04/02/09
    Sean Gandert
    Sean Gandert
    Paste Magazine

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

    Full Review Source: NYC Movie Guru | comment Comment
    03/06/09
    Avi Offer
    Avi Offer
    NYC Movie Guru

    Will speak to ethnomusicologists and cineastes alike.

    Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
    03/06/09
    John P. McCarthy
    John P. McCarthy
    Boxoffice Magazine

    In total, there are more than a dozen performance pieces, all stylishly lensed.

    Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
    03/06/09
    V.A. Musetto
    V.A. Musetto
    New York Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

    Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
    03/06/09
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    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.

    Full Review Source: Film-Forward.com | comment Comment
    03/06/09
    Nora Lee Mandel
    Nora Lee Mandel
    Film-Forward.com

    Fados is Carlos Saura’s big-screen film about the musical genre that is the soul music of Portugal.

    Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
    03/06/09
    Manohla Dargis
    Manohla Dargis
    New York Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    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).

    Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
    03/04/09
    Keith Uhlich
    Keith Uhlich
    Time Out New York

    Casts a wondrous spell as the third installment of the Spanish director’s musical trilogy, which also includes Flamenco (1995) and Tango (1998).

    Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
    03/04/09
    Andrew Sarris
    Andrew Sarris
    New York Observer
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    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.

    Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
    03/03/09
    Nick Pinkerton
    Nick Pinkerton
    Village Voice
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    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.

    Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
    02/24/09
    Maria Garcia
    Maria Garcia
    Film Journal International

    Impressive enough though the least passionate of Carlos Saura's trilogy that includes 'Tango' and 'Flamenco.'

    Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
    02/19/09
    Harvey S. Karten
    Harvey S. Karten
    Compuserve

    What Fados lacks in jaw-dropping sexiness it makes up for in casual sensuality.

    Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
    01/22/09
    Wesley Morris
    Wesley Morris
    Boston Globe
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
     
     
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