A gentle portrait of a musician whose music provides a bridge from Africa to America.
Comment
08/08/04
I'll Sing For You (2004)
59 %
Reviews Counted: 17 Fresh: 10 Rotten:7 Average Rating: 6.2/10
Runtime: 80 mins
Synopsis: This documentary, presented by Jonathan Demme (STOP MAKING SENSE), paints a low-key, entrancing portrait of African guitar legend Boubacar Traore, known to his countrymen as Karkar, a musician who regularly stirred the spirits of listeners on the radio and the dance floor during the early... [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Boubacar "KarKar" Traore, Ali Farka Toure
Director: Jacques Sarasin
Reviews
1 - 18 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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08/04/04
Features not one word of comment from its subject, but it does offer plenty of musical numbers and an impressionistic portrait of his life and times.
07/06/04
Top Critic
Though Traoré never talks directly on camera, he speaks volumes through numerous bluesy tunes he performs for the film.
06/11/04
Enjoyable if only to hear KarKar perform his mournful and personal songs, including a tender tribute to his late wife.
06/04/04
This graceful portrait of the great Malian singer and guitarist Boubacar Traore is also as a fascinating snapshot of Mali in the decades following the west African nation's independence from France in 1960.
06/04/04
Jacques Sarasin's documentary blends the history of post-colonial Mali with the life of one of its most popular musicians, the guitarist and singer Boubacar KarKar Traor.
06/03/04
Top Critic
A musical biopic conceived as a lyric dreamscape, as a meditation on fate and faith.
06/03/04
The reverent pacing lags a bit, but the film's meditation on the struggle to find spirituality that reconciles Islam with tribal belief systems is powerful in its understatement.
06/01/04
For fans of African music, Sing is a rich archeological dig; for newcomers with open ears, it might be a revelation.
04/30/04
We rarely hear from KarKar outside of his songs, and it's hard to conclude the most basic facts about the fame he lost.
04/30/04
It never really feels like we've gotten to know the man himself, leaving the figure at the heart of I'll Sing for You a cipher.
03/26/04
Kar Kar's singing is wonderfully expressive, and an improvised song to his wife at her grave site demonstrates the emotional wellspring of his music.
03/16/04
1 - 18 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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