Maestro (2003) User Reviews

Superb, watch if you have ever danced to the beat...

[kim-120 · 10/10 · 17 July 2003]

Excellent bit of historical boogie fare. This film is superb, interviews with some of the biggest movers in the house-music scene over the last 20 years; well filmed, superb soundtrack (note to the makers - make it available, it would be essential listening for anyone who has ever danced in their lives).

I would recommend this film to anyone who has been to a nightclub in the last two decades, and would like to find out where and who the music came from, how where and why it happened, where it has been and where it may go. Full of insight, humour and joy.

Highly recommended

[filmodysee · 7 October 2003]

Waiting in the bar of the Prince Charles Theatre, Leicester Square, for the premier of Maestro to kick off I was expecting a film about clubbing, the best DJs of our time and why everyone loves to dance until their stomach falls out. What I got was one of the most emotional roller coaster journeys I have ever experienced while watching a film. Trying to describe Maestro, knowing many have not yet seen it, is a daunting task and one that I know will not do justice to the four year long masterpiece that Josell Ramos has created. But I'm gonna try because you guys really need to see this film!

Maestro takes you through a journey of the underground dance movement that started in the 70's. While people were still celebrating disco, one man - Larry Levan - found a sound that gave birth to a new generation. The generation that we now know as clubbing. Larry Levan and David Mancuso started the phenomenon that became the underground scene at NYC's Paradise Garage and The Loft. David and Larry were brothers in the making of a scene and sound that was to exist forever.

All the way through the film, people - now in their 40s and 50s - talk about the effect Larry Levan has had on their life. Sitting here, writing this review, he's affected me in the same way even though he's been dead for over twenty years. The regulars at both The Loft and The Garage found that this man gave them something that no other person could have - an identity. Think how you've felt in your best clubbing experience, watching your favourite DJ play a song that will stay with you forever. Then think that for these people that was how they felt every night when Larry played.

But just when the audience where getting edgy, wanting to run out of the cinema and find the nearest pumping tune, the film took a turn that stopped the bobbing heads in their tracks. The underground scene was at its best mixing the euphoric feeling of the best sound people had ever heard with mind-blowing drugs and more love than they'd ever felt. At the peak of this insurrection, friends started disappearing. Slowly at first - ten or twenty people would not be seen for ages. When they were seen, they were desperately ill. Larry was one of them. Hundreds of people died and they didn't know what was happening to them. What had happened was that their experimentation with sex, drugs and an amazing scene had caused their death.

We may go clubbing, take drugs, experiment a little with whatever's on the market to heighten our clubbing experience, but we know the risks. We make our own choices and we know that whatever we do, we do it because we made an informed decision. Just imagine, twenty or thirty of your best mates, your clubbing pals, dying all at once and imagine how these guys felt when that happened thirty years ago. It's a sobering feeling and Ramos not only made me almost feel guilty, for the half hour before when I was burning to get out and party, but also made me realise exactly what Larry, David and the regulars did for clubbing today.

I thank Josell Ramos for telling this story and for allowing it to be told with so much heart. I urge you to go and see Maestro and defy you not to b e touched by it!(Toni Jones)

From what I've heard the film is preparing its US debut; this film should be supported.

lets go to the movies Pete Klein

big thumbs up

[easyrider2000t · 10/10 · 16 July 2003]

What I have to say about this film is that it takes on a rare feel. one that transcends those people that are not into hand helds or ambient lighting. This is a story of underground music. The first scene is almost hypnotic. It takes you through dark streets with a Voice over that haunts you. At the end of the road a thumping melody comes into play that of a song that I once heard in a club in my naughty years.

If you are expecting a narrated documentary TV style this film is not for you. It's raw and very artsy.

check it in a private screening

[camp560370 · 10/10 · 16 July 2003]

This doc is not a hollywood thing, definitely on the indie tip. loved what the creative team did with the raw visuals. It really touched me.

I'm tired of seeing these super hereo movies, so Maestro is def refreshing. a definite go!

Kris

Informative but overlong documentary on New York's Paradise Garage club

[crculver · 5/10 · 20 June 2014]

Until the 1970s, the jukebox was the main way of listening to music in New York City clubs, but then DJ-centered dance music as we know it today arose in the legendary venue Paradise Garage. Opening in the disco boom, Paradise Garage quickly became famous for the eclectic music choices of its DJs and later would play a key role in the spread of house music from Chicago to clubs worldwide until it closed in 1987. Josell Ramos's MAESTRO is a 90-minute documentary from 2003 about the Garage, the demographic it drew, and especially the DJ Larry Levan.

The documentary maker goes back to describe The Loft, the invitation-only parties that inspired the Garage, as well as the creation of the 12" record. There is some archival footage, but mainly this is an interview-driven documentary. There are interviews with DJs Antony Ocasio, Nicki Siano, Frankie Knuckles, Tony Humphries, "Little" Louie Vega, Derrick May. Especially shocking is an interview with Francis Grasso, who was only in his early 50s at the time, but worn down by drugs he looks like he's in his 80s (he would die soon after the interview). Also heavily featured are vox pop interviews with people outside a NY club who remember the Garage.

While not dedicating much time to it specifically, MAESTRO aims to depict the prominence of African-Americans and gays (and African-American gays!) in the Garage scene. Viewers whose experience with dance music is the more mainstream form in Europe will probably be surprised by how many men in this documentary talk swish. The impact of AIDS is briefly remembered.

While I enjoyed learning something about the early years of NYC club culture, I was rather disappointed by how padded this documentary was: the main reason that the documentary is 85 minutes long is that the subjects interviewed speak very slowly with a lot of "uh" and "like". If Ramos had approached this material in a different way, he could have tightened things down to an hour.

different

[littlehouseblue · 10/10 · 16 July 2003]

no doubt this is a doc that goes back to the roots of aesthetic film making. I thought it was deeply rooted, makes you think and ponder. Not your typical TV documentary. would recommend it.

I'm a photographer so seeing the director keep ambiance is appreciative. I always say there's no need for so much lighting. great piece..

I liked it, despite the obviously small budget.

[Lollipop4598 · 26 August 2004]

I can see someone expecting a movie to have more frills. But, I liked the candor, incidental humor, and information the flick provided. True, the movie makes more of itself then it is, but then, what DJ doesn't? It kind of fits together. And in spite of the aggrandizement, comes off as endearing. The styles the subjects wear are worth something just by themselves. If you really want a movie that follows the rules of great movie making, this might not be for you. But if you can put worth on hanging out in a reliably hip neighborhood, and meeting the denizens, without the drawbacks of having to meet them, I think you will be glad you gave this film a chance. Levine himself has an interesting story, worth hearing.

authentic piece on dance music, Knockout documentary,

[slickpic · 17 October 2003]

Knockout! I really enjoyed this film. I confess; I actually dropped a tear. It was not only moving with the music but more so with the direct voices of the people being interviewed. Feeling some of the top-superstar-getting paid (!) DJS profess there intimate moments with the ones that inspired them to be where they are today is not only genius on the part of the director but so on point with his creativity. The juxtaposition of the archive footage to the music to the silence to the roar of the sub-woofer peeling the cinema walls in shreds will take us all their. This is not a techno film nor does it have techno music in it; but it takes on the inspirations that made most t=fo the techno DJs/producers. Got it.

I really liked this film. It's definitely worth the money to see. No film is for everyone but this one is for many.

Matthew Star

INTRIGUING, a definite must see

[safe600x-1 · 7 October 2003]

When I saw the film in Mass. I thought it was a great piece of work.

In fact it was an in-depth look at the underground like never before.

The profoundness of the music was on point, specifically the scene in which one of the main individuals is introduced with melodic keys overlayed with a poetic voice over is hypnotic, got goose bumps.

This doc explores the evolution of the club scene from its roots in the late 60's, to it's height with the Paradise Garage and Larry Levan in the seventies, then on to it's depths with the AIDS crisis in the 80's. It is a story that outlines the genus of a now global musical movement and is told by the people who created it, the dancers who witnessed it and the pioneers who survived to tell the tale.

From the opening shots along the street from the train, to the entry of the club then on into it's inner sanctum, viewers will be sucked into the screen until the final credits roll, and glued to their seat long after that. It is powerful, sincere and an accurate representation of "What is House 101", and required viewing for those who want to know. Audience members testified along with the soundtrack, hollered as their hero DJs appeared on-screen and cried as they were reminded of all we've lost. Yes, it was worth the wait and it will be large.

The movie finds its strength in the gritty video footage of David Mancuso's Loft, Nicky Siano's Gallery and of course the final weekend at the Garage. Never widely seen, these priceless nuggets of history offer a spine-tingling visual of the dancers in their hallowed rooms, while showing the youthful exuberance of the DJs as they blazed their musical trails. It also excels in the presentation of uncommonly heard voices of the movement like the Sanctuary's Francis Grasso, Tony Humphries and Alex Rosner who spoke about aural pioneer, Richard Long. Josell augments the overall impact of all this by employing interesting camera angles, slow motion replay and the effective use of silence. Calling each viewers individual Theater of the Mind into full-effect, and capturing the tacit truth of just how powerful this all really is. It's greatest weakness is that it can't tell every story, recall every influential party during this period and beyond, name every name, or reflect every partier's experience but for what it does explore, specifically Larry and those around him, it paints a realistic picture from an excellent starting point.

I think all those people in the public that wonder about studio 54 or disco or house or the underground should witness this great piece of work. It worked for me and many of my friends.

I'm not sure what you were talking about D (aka little siddie) but the film had no techno music what so ever, not sure if you saw the same film.

the beauty of film C\ undaground

a definite maestro

[FILMFORUM2 · 9 October 2003]

When I saw the film in Mass. I thought it was a great piece of work.

In fact it was an in-depth look at the underground like never before. The profoundness of the music was on point, specifically the scene in which one of the main individuals is introduced with melodic keys overlayed with a poetic voice over; it's hypnotic.

From the opening shots along the street from the train, to the entry of the club then on into it's inner sanctum, viewers will be sucked into the screen until the final credits roll, and glued to their seat long after that. It is powerful, sincere and an accurate representation of "What is dance music culture", and required viewing for those who want to know. Audience members testified along with the soundtrack, hollered as their hero DJs appeared on-screen and cried as they were reminded of all we've lost. Yes, it was worth the wait and it will be large.

The movie finds its strength in the gritty video footage of David Mancuso's Loft, Nicky Siano's Gallery and of course the final weekend at the Garage. Never widely seen, these priceless nuggets of history offer a spine-tingling visual of the dancers in their hallowed rooms, while showing the youthful exuberance of the DJs as they blazed their musical trails. It also excels in the presentation of uncommonly heard voices of the movement like the Sanctuary's Francis Grasso, Tony Humphries and Alex Rosner who spoke about aural pioneer, Richard Long. Josell augments the overall impact of all this by employing interesting camera angles, slow motion replay and the effective use of silence. Calling each viewers individual Theater of the Mind into full-effect, and capturing the tacit truth of just how powerful this all really is. It's greatest weakness is that it can't tell every story, recall every influential party during this period and beyond, name every name, or reflect every partier's experience but for what it does explore, specifically Larry and those around him, it paints a realistic picture from an excellent starting point.

I think all those people in the public that wonder about studio 54 or disco or house or the underground should witness this great piece of work. It worked for me and many of my friends.

the beauty of film Phil undagroundArchives