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.

[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.

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