If you’re a fan of Florencia Núñez there’s plenty to enjoy here. The singer returns to her roots in Rocha, and meets the songwriters who created the emblematic songs of the preposterously beautiful ocean departamento. She goes for lengthy strolls with them and then sings cover versions of their tunes, with full band, in a studio. There are half a dozen songs to match half a dozen interviews. It feels slightly formulaic, and the best moments for my money, are when the film manages to break through the formula, when the composers/ performers get to sing their own songs, once in an open air theatre, and most engagingly in a late night bar. That scene captures the essence of live music, a shared rite, whose participation breaks through barriers and unites. Whilst the rest of the film has a clear documentary value, capturing the thoughts and memories of these figures, giants in their community although barely known beyond, (even within the tiny music world of Uruguay), for my money it felt as though there might have been more magic to be conjured if the film had been prepared to be bolder in its vision of what the music truly means to Rocha.
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