Café de los Maestros

“If, when you hear a tango that is played well, you don’t feel your chest tremble, find something else to do with your time.” The quote is from the pianist Carlos García who with this introduces Café de los Maestros, also called Buenos Aires Social Club – a documentary that unites music, history, greatness and humility in captivating fashion. It is produced by Walter Salles (Central Station, The Motorcycle Diaries), and written by the award-winning musician Gustavo Santaolalla together with director Miguel Kohan. Santaollalle is the punk rocker who joined his good friend, the director Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, in the US to make the music for Amores perros (2000). Since then he has composed for films like Babel and Brokeback Mountain, for which he won an Oscar. He is one of the world’s most sought-after film composers. In 2007 Santaollalle and his band played at Oslo World Music Festival, and with Café de los Maestros he takes us on a nostalgic trip back to his home country and the heart of tango: Argentina and Buenos Aires. The film gathers several of the greatest musicians who dominated the Buenos Aires scene from the golden age of tango during the 1940s and 50s: Osvaldo Pugloes, D'Arienzo, De Angelis, Horracio Salgan and Virginia Luque. With passion and wistfulness, these musicians talk about what tango has meant to them personally, while they are preparing for a great concert in Teatro Colón. Many of the musicians have continued to play in various orchestras in Buenos Aires, others have not touched an instrument in decades. The result of the reunion that Santaolallas is behind is not only this film directed by Kohan, which reminds us about the fundamental importance of tango, but also an album that has received very good reviews. To steaming hot tones that touch upon the many moods of tango, Café de los Maestros is a unique celebration of this music so rich in tradition, and which is hard to remain unmoved by. The film premiered during the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. jo