Kinshasa Symphony Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Kinshasa Symphony Blu-ray Movie Review

Joyful, joyful.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 6, 2011

Funding for the arts even in industrialized, well developed nations can often be a bone of contention. Many arts organizations are on the public dole out of necessity, otherwise they would cease to exist. Even with civic, municipal and/or state support, many of these arts organizations survive from year to year with only the slimmest margins, and many are often teetering on the edge of extinction. Despite this, there’s a constant drumbeat of complaints from many of these same arts organizations that they’re inadequately funded (which they probably are) and that none of the creative artists is making enough money (which is probably the truth). There’s a significant dose of reality to be had therefore in the unassuming fortitude of the musicians who make up the Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste, a hardscrabble bunch of amateurs who have fought long odds to pursue their dream of making beautiful music together. The OSK as it’s colloquially known is the only symphony orchestra in the Congo and as one of its proud members declaims during the course of this documentary is the only symphony orchestra anywhere comprised solely of blacks. Kinshasa is the third largest city in Africa, home to around ten million inhabitants, and the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country which as the liner notes to this release describe has a surface size 75 times that of its former colonial occupier Belgium. The average income in the nation is a staggering $300 per capita per year, and an astounding 73% of the population is considered to be malnourished. The teeming squalor of Kinshasa is completely on display throughout Kinshasa Symphony. To say that some of the players in the OSK live in shanty towns is perhaps being generous, and many of the individuals featured in the documentary describe lives of scraping along with only the barest essentials. And yet all of these people have joined together to try to forge a symphony orchestra. Absolutely remarkable.

The destitute living conditions of all of the players here spills over into their avocation from the very first moments of Kinshasa Symphony, as one of the orchestra members is also the designated “Mr. Fix It” and has climbed a nearby power pole to restore electricity to the outdoor rehearsal area the group has congregated in. He makes a joke of his ability to quickly set down his instrument as soon as other orchestra members glance his way in order to facilitate getting things up and running, but his story is mirrored by many others in the orchestra who are confronting astounding personal trials and tribulations, and yet still find the internal moxie to rehearse regularly and perform. Some of these other people include a single mother who brings her young son along with her to the rehearsals and another man who is literally handcrafting doublebasses from stencils he derived from his own instrument (which he had to take apart to make the stencils), so that others will have something to play. In fact the lack of instruments was one of the major hurdles OSK had to overcome early in its life.

To say that Kinshasa Symphony is a depiction of the triumph of human spirit over adversity is a bit of an understatement, though the documentary is to be lauded for not wallowing even a little bit in maudlin proselytizing or trying to make any of these incredible people out to be victims. In fact there’s a resoluteness about all of these people that’s really awe inspiring throughout the documentary, and a great deal of good humor is also on display. One of the funnier segments is the sight of these French speaking Africans attempting to learn the German of the final choral movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. In fact a great deal of the documentary is built around rehearsals for the Ninth.

To say that Kinshasa Symphony is a depiction of the triumph of human spirit over adversity is a bit of an understatement, though the documentary is to be lauded for not wallowing even a little bit in maudlin proselytizing or trying to make any of these incredible people out to be victims. In fact there’s a resoluteness about all of these people that’s really awe inspiring throughout the documentary, and a great deal of good humor is also on display. One of the funnier segments is the sight of these French speaking Africans attempting to learn the German of the final choral movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. In fact a great deal of the documentary is built around rehearsals for the Ninth.

It’s therefore a little surprising as we move to the “really big show”, an open air concert the OSK and assorted chorus puts on, when we actually get part of Orff’s “Carmina Burana” instead. No one is ever going to accuse this congregation of setting new aesthetic levels with their interpretation (which is a bit on the languid side, at least in the snippets of “O Fortuna” which are included here), but the mere fact that they have gotten together and attained even this level of artistry is the real story, and it’s one that could well bring a tear to the eye of even the most hard hearted audience members. These are people who have given their heart and soul to music for the sheer joy it brings to their lives, and Kinshasa Symphony stands not just as a testament to overcoming hardship, but more importantly for the intrinsic worth the arts bring to individual lives.

Kinshasa Symphony Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Update: I discovered on 12/7/11 that the latest PS3 software update causes 1080i to display as 1080p, so that, coupled with the fact the documentation provided with this release lists it as being 1080p, initially led to some confusion on my part as to why there were combing artifacts in my screencaps. I've since used another PS3 I have which didn't have the software update applied and discovered this is actually a 1080i presentation (as was my hunch), despite the information provided on the keepcase insert.

Kinshasa Symphony is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cmajor with an AVC encoded transfer in 1.78 that is listed as being in 1080p, though the screencaps clearly showed combing artifacts (which were deinterlaced prior to uploading them here). I'm assuming perhaps this was originally done for French television with an interlaced source element and was then transferred progressively for Blu-ray release. The documentary boasts excellent color and extremely appealing sharpness and clarity, though occasionally contrast is less distinct than some might want, leading to some minor crush in the nighttime scenes. Though the combing artifacts were clearly visible when motion was stopped to take the screencaps, when the image is in motion they're undetectable and I seriously doubt they will cause anyone much worry in an overall excellent video presentation.

Kinshasa Symphony Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Though Kinshasa Symphony is presented with two lossless soundtracks, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and an LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down, some may be initially disappointed because this is a documentary, not a performance piece. While there are snippets here and there of rehearsals, and the climactic concert that caps the piece, this is really much more a portrait of a handful of individuals who perform in the troupe, and as such the vast bulk of this piece is simply talking head segments with any given participant simply speaking directly into the camera. That said, there's some appealing surround activity when the documentary ventures out into the insanely busy streets of Kinshasa, and the music segments also provide some decent immersion. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is also well above average on both of these lossless tracks.

Kinshasa Symphony Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Bonus (HD; 9:12). This generically titled supplement includes what looks like some deleted scenes featuring some of the individuals featured in the main documentary.

Kinshasa Symphony Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Anyone who makes their living in the Arts and is prone to at least occasionally complaining about their lot in life ought to be required to watch Kinshasa Symphony for a rather brisk wake-up call. Symphony musicians in the United States and other heavily industrialized (and relatively well funded) nations are probably going to glean the most from this piece, although their natural cynicism about the lack of professional finesse on display may keep them from getting the real message here, which is the power of music to transform lives. Those of us who make at least part of our livings with music or other arts are too cavalier in not adequately remembering what any given Art did to us in our core beings early in our lives, so subsumed do we become in bringing home regular paychecks. The OSK shows what a pure love for an Art, in this case music, can do for individuals and an ensemble as a whole. This Blu-ray offers very appealing video and audio and its message is extremely important. Highly recommended.