Buena Vista Social Club: The Companion Book to the Film (Paperback)

~ Wim Wenders (Author), Donata Wenders (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A photographic record of Wim Wender's acclaimed film capturing musician Ry Cooder's odessy to the streets of Havana. It documents his search for the veteran musicians of Cuba's bygone age, and the amazing talent he discovered. The photographs are accompanied by narrative text and song lyrics. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Te Neues Publishing Company; First American Edition edition (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3823854445
• ISBN-13: 978-3823854449
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 10.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,729,045 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AGELESS BEAUTY AND MUSICIANS MAKE TIMELESS MAGIC, March 30, 2000

By A Customer

If you've seen the movie, this book will not only allow you to relive the experience but will provide more insight into the lives of each musician and their journey into our hearts, but will also provide insight into the 'forbidden' country whose beauty draws us and politics confuse us. Leave your politics at the door and delve into this headfirst. It's a magical mystery trip to the heart.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice photographic support to the book, but..., August 16, 2002

By	Manny Hernandez "Author of Ning For Dummies" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

I am a fan of Wim Wenders' work, and I loved the BVSC CD and the movie, but in all honesty, except for the intro by Wenders and the closing interview with Ry Cooder, the entire book basically consists of shots from the movie along with the dialogs by the BVSC stars and the lyrics to the songs they interpret, i.e. material that the movie and the CD already provide. Yes: I admit I had higher expectations with it. In any case, I have to say Ibrahim Ferrer's monologue toward the end, when they visit NYC for their performance at Carnegie Hall, is a very touching moment.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A photo album that depicts the key moments in the movie, March 18, 2002

By	Luis F Lupian (the Solar System) - See all my reviews

I recently saw the movie Buena Vista Social Club for the first time and I liked it so much that I wanted to learn more about it. That's why I ordered this book.

At first, I was a little disappointed when I received the book and found out that some of the images were low-resolution digital scans. However, after reviewing the book as a whole, I really got to like it. There are quite a few large high-resolution images that more than compensate for their low-res counterparts.

The book is mainly a photo-album which includes the transcriptions of some of the dialogs and interviews from the movie, as well as the lyrics of some of the songs (all of them translated into English).

One of the only pieces of material in this book that are not an integral part of the movie is the foreword by Wim Wenders, where he describes his whole experience of going to Cuba to make the movie. Very, very interesting to read! The other two are an interview of Ry Cooder with Peter Kemper and the biographies of the musicians.

This book is good to have around when you are having a conversation about the movie with your friends. You'll find the photos and dialogs from all the key moments in the movie.