The Miracle of Candeal

Fortunately for me today there is Fernando Trueba’s “The Miracle of Candeal.” While its narrative can be confusing at times, the music it documents comes through brilliantly. The film talks much about history, of the music and of the black people, and it does offer background and insight into the music. This link to the past by music is, the film suggest, the source of the Miracle of Candeal—the successful home grown revitalization of the once slump. That is a very simplistic and naïve view. It also does other people in the community a disservice. As a documentary, however, it matters little with the great music played and the wonderful musicians playing them. One learns more about the people from their music than anything else in the film partly because of the directorial failure to explain in any depth and mostly because of the music itself.