Clint Eastwood Movie:

		List Price: $19.98		Label: Sony Salesrank: 80654 Released: May 11, 2004
		Our Price: $27.79
		Used Price: $16.00
		MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated) Media: DVD

Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues - The Soul of a Man Reviews:
The blues or the expression of a mood!
2009-01-19 - Win Wenders will not be just reminded like a very talented and original filmmaker, but overall by his sincere worriment for being a fundamental support of musical documental that really needed to be divulgated. He made the world realized the enormous importance of the Cuban music in his famous film "Buena Vista Social Club." So, when he decided to make a documental about the blues, Martin Scorsese gave him all the necessary aid in order to make this project came true.

"The soul of a man" is a magnificent documental made by a foreigner who learned to love this music since his well reminded road movie: "Alice in the cities". I remark this circumstance because one would have expected that filmmakers such as Spike Lee or John Singleton had to pick up these flags; the blues as one of the most expressive creations of the black people, the way they expressed his sorrows and livings.

"Blind" Dixon, Skip James and J,B. Lenoir were the three chosen heroes of this musical sentiment. And the film turns around the existences of these three admirable forerunners of a genre that would nourish and mold part of the musical careers of famous soloists to come like B. B. King, Jimmy Hendrix, Lou Reed, Cassandra Wilson, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Alvin Lee, Roy Buchanan, Rick Derringer, Johnny Winters, Bonnie Riatt, Gary Moore, and so many Rock ensembles (Led Zepellin, Humble Pie, Ten years after, among others no least remarkable).

The documental is a fair, deserved and warmth homage to the real meaning of the blues through these three unforgettable pioneers whose transcendental relevance has paved the way for an impressive list of artists of the genre.


Great for JB and Skip, but could have been better
2006-10-21 - The Skip James and Tommy Johnson stuff was okay, but the real meat of this collection is the story of JB Lenoir, the forgotten poet of the blues and one of the few who tackled the rawness of what it as like to be a Black Mississippian at the time raw and uncut. This footage of JB with the Swedish filmmakers and the rare cut of him performing in Germany in 1965 (skillfully mixed with civil rights and Martin Luther King footage) are brilliant, but the director noted in the book version of this CD that on the cutting room floor is footage of JB's family and interviews with them. This is the DVD age! Why isn't this and complete songs of JB (aside from the unecessary interpetations by other artists) here! Good Night people! THINK about this stuff when editing these DVDs and adding special features.

But we can be thankful for what's here.

Worthwhile DVD, great intro to J.B.Lenoir
2005-02-03 - While there were some disappointing aspects to this film (I'd wish for more complete versions of songs, for instance), it's worth viewing for its presentation of the relatively obscure (at least to those new to the blues) J.B.Lenoir. Director Wim Wenders was captivated by Lenoir's music as a young man, and gives him a central place in the film, along with Blind Willie Johnson and Skip James. There's some terrific archival footage of Lenoir, and a number of (portions of) his songs. And the contemporary performances of Lenoir pieces by the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Casandra Wilson and others are pretty stirring too. Again, I only wish there were more complete songs, a criticism that can be leveled at most of the volumes in this series.

But if you've never heard Lenoir, or if you've heard him but never seen him, you'll enjoy this DVD.