As Viagens do Vento

I expected to see a journey across Colombia's diverse geographical and cultural landscapes...and I was not disappointed. And as a second-language Spanish learner, I wanted to hear authentic Colombian Spanish...and I did. In fact, "The Wind Journeys" is a very well filmed journey across Colombia; I could see it winning an award for best cinematography. But the story about the current owner of the devil's accordion who, after the death of his wife vows to never play again, embarks on a journey to return the instrument to its rightful owner, including the ending, just didn't click for me.

Perhaps the times they are a changing, or maybe I've changed. I think in the 1980s, when I was 30 years younger, full of enthusiasm to travel the world and learn about exotic cultures, reading novels by García Márquez and more hopeful about life in general, I would have liked "The Wind Journeys" a lot more, or I would have just enjoyed watching it without caring if I bought the premise.

The premise of "The Wind Journeys" isn't as ridiculous as that of "Central Station" (another beautifully filmed and culturally-interesting story but which is based on a ludicrous premise). Yet even without the ongoing violence of the drug lords or the 40+ years of the ongoing FARC rebellion simmering in the background, the Colombia we see in "The Wind Journeys" is a violent, cruel, macho place where it's hard for me to have sympathy for anyone...because what good would that do? In spite of the great filming technique, this is not the Colombia of magical realism, this is the Colombia where a bit of hope swims hopelessly in a sea of hopelessness.

Mark Twain wrote that readers of romantic novels should love the good people, hate the bad people, and always be able to tell the two apart. I guess the two protagonists are the "good" guys in a world of "bad" guys, but I just didn't find myself caring deeply about their fates. Having said that, I would recommend this film for my hardcore Southamericanophile friends who want to see the wondrous and horrible beauty of Colombia. But I'm glad I didn't make my wife go with me to see this film at our local art-house theatre. In fact, I may go out and rent "La triste e increíble historia de la cándida Eréndira y su abuela desalmada" to cheer myself up, or maybe I'll put on my favorite Carlos Vives CD. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

(2009) The Wind Journeys/ Los viajes del viento (In Spanish with English subtitles) SPIRITUAL DRAMA

If you've seen and liked "The Devil And Daniel Webster" then this movie is something of that nature- that and "The Straight Story" since it's like the "Daniel Webster" of accordions in the spiritual kind of way. Written and directed by Ciro Guerra starring Marciano Martínez as accordion traveler, Ignacio Carrillo while riding on top of a donkey to return his accordion back to the original owner. He gets followed by an ambitious teenager, Fermin Morales (Yull Nunez) who throughout the movie sometimes steals parts of the movie as he aids and helps Ignacio to complete this objective. Fermin's main motivation is to learn how to play the accordion instrument, but what he get instead is what viewers get, which is the customs and practices of accordion music as a result of their traveling. This movie may be too slow to some viewers as we're showed some gorgeous looking landscapes throughout the regions.

Los viajes del viento (2009), shown in the U.S. as The Wind Journeys, was written and directed by Ciro Guerra.

This movie was fascinating to me because it opened up windows to a culture and a music with which I'm not familiar. The setting is rural northeastern Colombia, and the music is vallenato, in which the primary instrument is the accordion.

Los viajes is basically a road movie. The story is that a young man follows an older vallenato master as he wanders through rural Colombia, attempting to return an accordion which has mystical properties.

The plot consists of the people they meet, and the experiences they encounter on the journey.

Being unfamiliar with the region and its music, I can't comment on how accurately these are portrayed. The relationship between the man and the boy certainly doesn't conform to the feel-good connection that would surely develop in a U.S. film. Also, the entire movie is more like fantasy than realistic fiction or documentary. However, I admit that people from the region could say, "Actually, that's the way it is."

This is an unusual and fascinating movie, and definitely worth seeing. It will work better on a large screen than a small one, but it will be worth seeking out in either format. (We saw it at the Rochester 360-365 film festival which, despite its ridiculous name, is an excellent event.)

A beautiful film that is in no hurry to unfold (and it shouldn't be because "being in a hurry" is not something the people in the movie seem to feel). Life is not easy here (you can see this etched into every character's face) but you persevere and along the way you look for, and create, beauty and kindness. I love the way the camera often moves backward, showing the characters moving from one environment into the next (they know where they're headed but we don't. The expressions on Fermin's face at the end are a complex wonder to behold (and a great topic for discussion afterward). If you are looking for an anxiety-inducing, misanthropic action-thriller then keep looking. If you want to see a poetic gem made by people who clearly see beauty in the world and know how to help us see it too, then settle down and enjoy "The Wind Journeys".

I'm a frequent visitor to Colombian's northern coast and this film shows this region very well.

By the film's title and subject, I was not expecting an action film, I knew it would move slow. Maybe because of my low expectations I found this film truly wonderful! The film shows the great variety of the region and its people. The different languages and accents. The mountain and river scenes were great. The regions of Magdalena, César and Guajira are beautifully depicted.

The story was good enough for me. I liked the questions that are left unanswered. But clearly, for me, the scenery more than carried this film.