Fados

As he did in Flamenco and Tango, Saura documents music and dance by showcasing performances on a bare stage, using giant scrims against which to project video images. This time the subject is fado, the mournful musical tradition of Portugal and its colonies. Saura’s visual minimalism shows off the performers beautifully. But this approach abstracts the music from its original context. Pretty pictures and lovely music, but perhaps a little too sterile for such deeply felt music.

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