Fados

Don't miss my review of Spanish director Carlos Saura's latest film, Fados, about the genre of Portuguese music fado whose origins come from 19th century Lisbon's working class port-side neighborhoods. The music has undergone several adaptations over the 20th century, most notably the difficult assimilation of influences brought by immigrants from Portugal's American colonies, and occasional incorporation into the ghettoizing category of "World Music." Rather than smooth over these and other tensions, Saura presents the music in a very stripped studio landscape of strong warm colors and monumental mirrors. Rather than using interviews and archival footage, the story emerges from the music itself. Keep reading about Fados in my full review.