El Acordeón del Diablo

Summary

"El Acordeón del Diablo" tells the story of that great old man of Caribbean music, Pacho Rada. It is the tale of a singer and composer who first held an accordion at the age of four and was never to let go of it again. 

He′s 93 now and lives in a corrugated iron shack on the outskirts of Santa Marta in Colombia, whilst his songs climb up the hit parades. The film follows Pacho Rada on a journey along the Caribbean coast of Colombia voyaging into the world of musicians who have grown up with Salsa, Cumbia and Vallenato. The musician who transformed Colombian Cumbia and bullfight tunes into a fiery big band sound, Alfredo Gutierrez, also performs in the film. And then there is the undisputed star, Israel Romero, King of Vallenato, hurling himself into a breathtaking virtuoso accordion duel with his nephew El Morré. Pacho Rada became famous through Gabriel Marquez′ novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude". The figure of the troubadour, Francisco El Hombre, who has a fateful encounter with the devil one night, is modelled on Pacho Rada. The boundaries between dream and reality are blurred in Pacho Rada′s tales, just as they are in Marquez′s novels.

The film "El Acordeón del Diablo" enters into both these universes with him, exploring a country torn asunder by poverty and violence and a fantastic realm of legends and captivating music.

Source: German films Service & Marketing GmbH