Carlos

I, first off, have to say I haven't seen this yet, but I will!!! I was so amazingly blessed when you blew my mind that momentous day on September 4th, 1982 afternoon. It wasn't Woodstock (I was too young for that) but US Festival '82 was my Woodstock. I was 24, but naïve to most the bands at that time in my life. Even so, I had been to the California Jam (April 6, 1974) when I was just a junior in high school. Nevertheless, when you came onto the stage and played that guitar, I was mesmerized and you had my complete, undivided attention.

Carlos Santana, you were bar none, the most memorable, heart and soul awakening to music I had ever experienced. To this day, no other band has made such an impact on my soul. I know no other way to reach out to such a legend as you, but to tell you my story of how you impacted my life in just a few hours.

I'm certain that all who have experienced your unique music have been touched, if not changed, by your talent, your skill. You're a gifted man, an icon, with a beautiful, natural ability to touch hearts and lives.

I can't wait to see this new release. Dude, you rock! <3.

Carlos is such a cool and peace-loving guy and has been ever since he burst in the scene in 1969 at Woodstock For a movie that was filled with music, I wanted more. I would have been satisfied if they just played his music for 2 hours, or just showed one of his concerts. But they presented a lot of intimate parts of his life and some of what makes him the genius we all know.

We love Santana, matter of fact,the last two concerts we went to were to see him. Great!

Yesterday I had the privilege to watch the premiere of "Carlos", together with some of my closest friends. It was a wonderful experience as the documentary is overall very well made.

In terms of technical aspects, the production is excellent. The sound and editing are very well done and the well-picked archive materials were mixed in naturally, adding very intuitively to the overall story. There were many detailed facts that were highly accurate; something that adds to the integrity of the rest of the material.

The best part of the production is the scope setting and how consistently the director stayed within this scope. This is not a movie about the Santana Band and its history, it's not even as much about Carlos as a musician, although being a musician is a main driver of his identity. The main theme as about a man overcoming his insecurities through life through a belief in himself, fed by various father figures. That's a universal theme and was subtly blended with other themes including immigration, sexual harassment, financial hardship, divorce, addictions, loss of loved ones, challenges in trusted relationships and modern-day pressure of society. I'm convinced every viewer should be able to relate to at least a few of these elements; so you don't need to be a Santana fan to be able to appreciate this movie a lot. Despite some of these heavier themes, the general atmosphere of the movie is actually light and full with humor and subtleties.

Carlos had a battered childhood; something the movie treated delicately (and thankfully didn't over-index on). His story depicted in "Carlos" is about his journey through life, battling his insecurities and his process of making peace with his inner secrets. Some key support figures in this journey have been his father, his guru Sri Chinmoy and his two mentors in the music business (Bill Graham and Clive Davis). Personally, I believe Armando Peraza should have been recognized as the fifth "father-figure" but was sadly missing. In either event, the film concentrated on this scope and there was not much or even nothing about his former band members, other friends, his musical inspirations, his mother or brother, or relationship with his fans. One could criticize that narrow scope, but I believe it was very supportive of a strong film as the consistency of the theme allowed for a well-flowing narrative and it provided sufficient depth at the same time. Another point of criticism could be that we don't hear many external critical points of view, although that is compensated by some honest self-reflections Carlos shares.

For his many music fans, this it should also be a very pleasing watching experience as the film provides a lot of revealing background that offers context to his rich music legacy. Moreover, the film contains some fantastic archive materials, including the first ever recorded music by Carlos, which is a gem for true fans as that material has never been accessible before. There were a few great clips of Carlos playing shirtless at home, almost as a physically metaphor of being stripped from everything else and just presenting him as the man he truly is.

To conclude, this movie is an absolute pleasure to watch as it was made with a very specific intention and a lot of integrity. It was a great walk through a music icon's life and it was very comforting to see that Carlos is doing so well. Bless him.

This covers the life and career of Carlos Santana through archive footage and talking (not really interview) mainly by Carlos as well as his current wife and sisters.

Almost the first half of this film (38 out of 88 minutes) goes by until the first Santana album is released. I found that section incredibly interesting as it gets into the how and why he got to that point. The next section is interesting but it doesn't really get into the how and why of the progression of the band, musicians or his music. Then it gets a bit boring with too much emphasis on his spirituality. Plus he sometimes speaks in Spanish but there are no subtitles for it so I had no idea at all what he was saying there.

This was an excellent documentary until it wasn't.

Legendary people are few and far between but Carlos Santana is more than worthy of the title! I have been into this guy's music since I was a young kid; through my DJ' years to where I am today.

Although I did find this documentary to have some interesting moments I, have to admit that I think it was a bit scrappy. It jumped about a lot and a lot of the used previously unseen footage was fairly dull and only of interest , most likely, to the superfans. He has a good outlook on what he wants to do but came over to me as finding it hard to know who he is; maybe that is why in some of his younger days footage he comes across as a total dick! I don't think I would ever watch it again as it just wasn't of a very high standard.