Edinburgh International Film Festival

            Café de los Maestros is a documentary created by Gustavo Santaollala and directed by Miguel Kohan.  The film takes place in Buenos Aires and concerns itself with the effort that goes into a Tango concert bringing together a lot of the surviving original greats of this style.  This documentary shows these individuals as they prepare for this major event and then finishes up with segments of the concert its self.

            I found this documentary to be disorganized and hard to follow.  There was little or no explanation given for what was happening in the film.  There was very little footage of anything outside the practice hall or the concert itself.  There was only brief coverage of the art of Tango dancing which helped this musical style to achieve the fame that it now enjoys.  I was, however, impressed with the idea of the film.  The musicians that are shown are the last artists alive that began the original Tango movement.  I did learn all of the different elements that go into making Tango music.  The music was exceptional and the musicians themselves were phenomenal at what they did.  As documentaries go it was a great concept.  I would like to have been given a little more explanation about what exactly was happening and the origins of this music.  I did enjoy the way that the movie used clips of the musicians in everyday life and shots of Tango dancers, both young and old, to show Tango as an integral part of the Buenos Aires culture.  As a documentary it didn’t provide me with easy information or education.  What I learned I had to assume from the film without having any verification.  This made it seem somewhat like an extended home video.  I would give Café de los Maestros two and a half stars for idea and musical content.