When I first moved to Northampton in 1997, the now classic Buena Vista Social Club had only recently been released. A collection of Cuban music performed by veterans of the Havana scene, it was a surprise hit that was originally meant to be a showcase for a collaboration between Cuban musicians and visiting musicians from Mali. When the Malian contingent found themselves unable to secure the visas necessary for the project, American guitarist Ry Cooder — on hand with producer Nick Gold to record the now-shelved session — pushed the reset button and within a week had a stellar group of locals lined up to make history.
That album was everywhere in those days; for someone new to the Valley it seemed like there was a town bylaw that required any downtown business to keep a copy in rotation. But I never tired of it, and I think a part of the reason why — and why the record proved so popular in the first place — was that the music was not just great music, but also a half-open door to a place and time that many Americans had never really experienced except through the bottom of Hemingway’s bar glass. And almost 20 years later, the band plays on; the latest iteration of the group looped through Northampton for a show at the Calvin Theatre just a few short weeks ago.
Twice this week, Valley filmgoers have a chance to see how it all happened when Buena Vista Social Club — this one a documentary film directed by German giant Wim Wenders — comes to Amherst Cinema on Sunday and Tuesday as part of the theater’s ongoing Wim Wenders: Portraits Along The Road retrospective. When Wenders, who had worked with Cooder on soundtracks for his own films in the past, first decided to tag along with his old friend, the first Social Club album had not yet been released. And so what Wenders initially thought would be a smallish documentary about a smallish musical event instead turned into what he came to call “a fairy tale” that would earn an Oscar nomination and worldwide acclaim, and help transform the musicians at its heart — some of them already in their 80s or 90s when the album was pressed — from unknown masters to worldwide draws. You don’t have to be a fan of the music to enjoy the film, but if you aren’t, you will be by the time the credits roll.
Also this week: Local film group Cinema Northampton continues its run of free, open to the public screenings this week with a Wednesday evening show of the classic comedy The Pink Panther. (This is the 1964 version, starring a wonderful Peter Sellers as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, and not the 2006 Steve Martin remake. Martin is a comedy legend and has given me a lot of laughs, but Sellers will always be my Clouseau.) Hot on the trail of legendary jewel thief “The Phantom,” Clouseau decamps from Paris for a holiday in Switzerland, where the famous jewel that gives the film its title will be going on display — providing a perfect opportunity to spring the trap on the elusive thief, if only he can get out of his own way first.
And at Cinemark theaters in Hadley and Springfield, a game-changing American musical gets recognized as it turns the big six-oh: the Oklahoma! 60th Anniversary show brings the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical to the big screen in a new restoration and with an extended pre-screening special featuring Kristin “if it’s about Broadway, I’m in it!” Chenoweth singing songs from the show, which include “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” “People Will Say We’re in Love,” and of course the iconic title song “Oklahoma!” Screenings take place Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. and Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.•
Jack Brown can be reached at cinemadope@gmail.com.
