Paul Pena and Kongar-ol Ondar in "Genghis Blues."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Paul Pena Director: Roko Belic Rated: Unrated Length: 80 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(April 21 , 2000) -- Maybe the United Nations would work better if we sent musicians instead of diplomats. Diplomats argue about differences; musicians embrace them.

Various modern documentary films have followed violinist Isaac Stern to China and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and guitarist Ry Cooder to Cuba, and showed the joy of musical bridge-building between cultures.

Genghis Blues is the latest -- and most wonderfully bizarre -- of such films.

In the Oscar-nominated movie, we follow a blind San Francisco blues musician to Tuva, an obscure nation of nomadic herdsmen found between Mongolia and Siberia. There he participates in parades and jam sessions, culminating in the Tuvan throat-singing music festival.

Say what?

Throat singing is a most peculiar cornerstone of Tuvan culture. Its revered artists create sounds deep in their throats -- including the rare phenomenon of two different simultaneous notes.

To Western ears, such singing sounds like an eccentric, deep warble, a rumbling chant. But to American blues performer Paul Pena, throat singing sounds "just like Popeye singing the blues."

The film follows the wondrous odyssey of Pena, a respected musician who has played with John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters.

He first discovers throat singing on his short-wave radio, when he connects with a Radio Moscow broadcast. (Tuva is part of the Russian Federation.) Pena studies all he can and eventually learns the art himself.

Then he meets touring Tuvan musicians -- and they invite him back to Tuva for the annual festival. Filmmakers Roko and Adrian Belic trail along with their cameras.

Behind the exotic charm of West meets East, musically speaking, Genghis Blues also profiles Pena, a captivating figure who employs the joy of music to lift himself out of deep depressions.

In some ways, Genghis Blues is a tale worthy of the great age of exploration. But in this case, the explorer is a blind man who lives in a world of sounds, seeking the source of something truly unique that hit his ears.

Of course, the Tuvans also learn the blues, for which I presume they're most grateful.

If you like films that take you places you've never been before -- in any sense of that phrase -- check out Genghis Blues.