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Guided by the phenomenal talent of Martin Scorsese as Executive Producer, The Blues consists of 7 feature-length films that are both personal and impressionistic, viewed through the lens of 7 world famous directors who share a passion for blues music. In the tradition of 'The Buena Vista Social Club' and 'Standing in the Shadows of Motown', The Blues films chart the evolution of blues music, from its roots in Africa to its inspirational role in today?s music. As opposed being merely historical overviews or straight documentaries of the blues, the films aim to celebrate and promote the diverse impressions and influences blues music has exerted on artistic and musical forms of expression around the world. Director Wim Wenders explores the lives of his favourite blues artists (Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson, and J. B. Lenoir) in a film that is part history and part personal pilgrimage. The film tells the story of these artists' lives in music through a fictional film-within-a-film, rare archival footage, and covers of their songs by several contemporary musicians, including Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams, Lou Reed, and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. Says Wenders: "These songs meant the world to me. I felt there was more truth in them than in any book I had read about America, or in any movie I had ever seen. I've tried to describe, more like a poem than in a 'documentary,' what moved me so much in their songs and voices."
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