We listen to music on a daily basis and it can be interpreted in so many different ways. One may like music due to the beat and rhythm or one may like the music due to the words and deep meaning it brings. This documentary had an interesting take and was quite different than other documentaries I have watched in the past. There was not much dialogue, most of the communication was done through music which I believe was used to symbolize how important music was to these communities. It was so incredible and interesting to see that each of these different communities all had something in common which was Music. They were each so emotionally invested in their music that tears were falling! I thought it was really nice how in one scene they state how women are so tough and they hold the community together. They wished that men were more like the women. People often assume that women in 3rd world countries are oppressed but it was nice to see a change and see that women are praised and respected in these communities. The people in this documentary were so happy and filled with joy!
I had multiple favorite scenes from the movie but I specifically want to highlight two scenes. The first one was when Walusimbi Nsimbambi Harunta shared a song that brought him to tears. He shared a story about his father being absent but instead he put his story into a song. This was different and I felt like his emotions were projected more by expressing it through music. The second scene was when in one of the villages there was only one woman who played an instrument and the rest were men. She states that she used to have fear when playing her instruments and now she’s fearless.
Bela Fleck definitely wants to make you explore deep roots and see different perceptions. I loved that he took the Banjo and highlighted that the history goes way deeper than American-southern roots. These villages use this as a communication tool and it brings them together. Even families and children were involved in making the music and I believe this emphasized on the unity they have between each other. Even though Bela Fleck was an experienced Banjo Player, he still learned from the people he met and wanted to connect with them as well. I thought this was really nice to see that he wasn’t there to present himself he was there to learn about the culture and music as well.
Even though I wish there was more dialogue throughout the film, I still enjoyed seeing the different types of music these villages put together! It was a little out of my comfort zone but I believe art in different cultures is about pushing yourself to see different perceptions.
The music was beyond beautiful. They each had meaningful and heartfelt songs that I will never forget.
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