Last night I went to see a fascinating Spanish movie called Vengo directed by Tony Gatlif. It is a movie based in Andalucia and revolves around two feuding families of Gypsy blood. The movie revolves around flamenco music and the music is a constant in every scene. Here is a brief media description of the film:

'Interweaving gorgeous Cinemascope images of the Andalusian plains with intricate shots of exotic flamenco dancers, Vengo tells the story of a blood feud raging between two families. At the center of the story is Caco, a proud man who must fight for his family's honor and the safety of his young, mentally-challenged nephew Diego. After witnessing the death of his beloved daughter, Caco transfers his protective love to Diego, who has been threatened by the rival family, the Caravacas. The beautiful traditional songs of internationally-acclaimed musicians La Caita, Tomatito, and La Paquera act as characters in and of themselves, echoing the emotions of the characters in every guitar strum and note sung.'

I saw it at the local arthouse theatre as it is not a major Hollywood blockbuster production so I highly recommend you see this if youit is your area. One thing that surprised me was that a lot of what I had previously considered as typical Andalusian/flamenco instruments, ie. guitar, voice, percussion, was not the case here. The use of the flute and even a fiddle along with a very dominant North African (the Moorish influence obviously) style of music dominated a lot of the film. And, man, the reknowned beauty of the Andalusian women is quite, ahem, obvious in this film (I couldn't resist)!

Dargus