With: Carlos Santana
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Written by: n/a
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Directed by: Rudy Valdez
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MPAA Rating: R for language, some drug content and brief nudity
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Running Time: 87
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Date: 09/29/2023
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Smooth
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
This straightforward rock documentary, with a fairly traditional arc, is heightened by its subject's embracing of the spiritual and the natural, lending a somewhat mythical tone to his story.
Rock legend Carlos Santana was born in Mexico, where he played violin in his father's mariachi band. The family later re-located to San Francisco, where he pursued his dream of making his own music. Discovered by Bill Graham, he found himself on stage at the 1969 Woodstock Festival before his band had even released an album. His first few releases became classics.
Things took a turn when rockers around him began dying. He chose a path of enlightenment, of spiritual meditation. His career floundered for a while until something magical happened. A 1999 album, Supernatural, took off into the stratosphere, providing the comeback that most artists can only dream of.
Running only 87 minutes, Carlos is really only interested in a succinct, Cliff's Notes version of this career. It avoids any commentary on what makes Santana's music special, and it doesn't offer many opposing or corroborating viewpoints. (A scene in which Carlos sits with his two sisters and young wife is especially awkward; the women seem reluctant to speak in front of him.)
It certainly does not mention the singer's 2023 onstage anti-trans commentary (or subsequent apology), which seems to fly in the face of the way he presents himself: as an open-hearted person who has likewise been the victim of bigotry.
Nonetheless, Santana is a passionate interview, a terrific showman who makes his time on camera count. And then there's the music, especially the tunes from the classic 1970 LP Abraxas, that make Carlos an enjoyable, uplifting experience.
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