|
jamh2000 -> BBC Flamenco Documentary (Aug. 26 2013 14:31:47)
|
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/posts/Flamenco-Gypsy-Soul
Did anyone see this last night? I thought it was dreadful but kinda worth watching. The presenter toured around Andalucia with an agenda which seemed interesting on the face of it- firstly she said she wanted to discover the 'gypsy roots' of Flamenco, then she wanted to find out how it became emblematic of Spain and not just Andalucia, then she wanted to hear the modern performers and see whether it was still happening in today's gypsy communities. The whole framework was much too simplistic and focused on gypsies, but that wasn't the real problem. She simply didn't ask any interesting questions to the people she met, and did not engage with them on a real personal level.
So we had a tokenistic visit to a gyspy goat heard who sang siguiriyas, who said 'la vida es muy duro aqui' (by which he merely meant 'being a farmer is hard work') followed by the conclusion, minus any historical reflection or interrogation of why and in what ways life is tough now and was in the past for others, that flamenco is about suffering. Then we had a cringeworthy section when she visited a blacksmith who hit an anvil whilst a friend sang martinete (admittedly very well), but the whole thing was shot in 'super slow-mo' giving it a voyeuristic and patronising feel. It was declared that there was a long history between blacksmithing and Flamenco, and that cante jondo was a natural result of these people's suffering. It was unclear how they were suffering- they seemed fine, and they weren't asked about their ancestors.
Then there was a visit to some modern day gypsies in a housing estate in Cadiz, who sang a few rumbas some times. They were asked, 'what is life like here, to which they replied 'erm, fine, not much money but we get on alright and like Flamenco'. No discussion of what they did for a living, what the history of Flamenco in their families was...' just that question and some Rumba clips. This was followed by the inevitable conclusion, 'life is clearly incredibly tough here, but Flamenco runs in the blood'.
There were some interspersed clips of interviews with Paco Pena, Tomatito, Vicente Amigo and Estrella Morente, but sadly the opportunity of an exclusive HD filmed interview with these starts was not used to ask any interesting questions. There were 30 second clips of them being asked 'what does Flamenco mean to you', and sadly hardly any performance footage. A couple of seconds of Vicente playing with friends and Paco Pena giving a couple of strums, but that was it. There was one excellent original clip of Estrella Morente singing solo in a house.
Towards the end there was a good section on Camaron, which showed what an important figure he was, and some nice footage of Nino Jero and others performing in Jerez. There was a lovely modern Alegrias de Cadiz performed live at the end.
Sadly, this was a missed opportunity. Interviews were superficial and you didn't feel you got to know any of the characters. Historical points were simplistic and asserted, not developed from evidence or discussion. There was therefore no sense of 'discovery' and the view of Spanish people in general was condescending. No good stories were told, and worst of all there was much too little music. Lara's 'Granada' was the soundtrack to most of the scenes in Granada, and Albeniz's 'Sevilla'...you get the idea. To be fair it was good that they got interviews with such big stars, but being the BBC with all the clout that brings they should have done much better. Sorry to post such a grim review- the clips on the BBC website are quite good!
|
|
|
|
