The Criterion Collection will release La Bamba on September 26, 2023.
As an avid collector of physical media, I’m consistently faced with the dilemma of convincing my wife to watch Criterion Collection releases with me. She tends to see them as stuffy, boring films that don’t interest her, and in some circumstances she may be right. However, I was confident — despite never having seen it myself — that La Bamba would be the exception. We’d recently enjoyed watching the Baz Luhrman spectacle Elvis together, and I used their shared musical biopic premise as an argument in my favor. By the time the credits rolled, the music of Ritchie Valens had two new fans.
La Bamba Plot
Richard Steven Valenzuela was a typical teenager, living and attending school in Los Angeles in the late 50’s. With a passion for music and dreams of stardom, Richard quickly made his mark as a musician while cementing himself as an icon of his time. Under his stage name, Ritchie Valens, his popularity skyrocketed with hits like Donna and La Bamba. However, his frequent nightmares involving a violent plane crash would prove to foreshadow a tragic and life-shattering event.
The Critique
Musical bio-pics tend to carry a reputation of clinging to cliched and contrived story structures. Many of them tend to feel more similar to an episode of VH1’s Behind The Music than an original take on the real-life experiences of an icon. While La Bamba is not entirely free of those pitfalls, it elevates itself above them through the performance of Lou Diamond Phillips and the feel-good, upbeat lens it uses to examine the life of the young singer.
Phillips was twenty-four at the time, portraying a seventeen year-old high schooler. However, he manages to pull-off the younger age well-enough through his boyish appearance and demeanor. The more jarring and apparent issue is the singing voice that is clearly not coming from Phillips. David Hidalgo, who can be seen playing the guitar during one scene, provided all of Ritchie Valens singing vocals for the film. While his performance is fantastic, the clear differences of tone and pitch between the two voices are unmistakable.
This is a simple film that works incredibly well by being endlessly entertaining. By treating the story as an up-beat celebration of the musician’s life and music, rather than a dark and gloomy tale of a life lost too soon, we as viewers get to enjoy Valen’s skyrocketing success in the same way he does. Writer and director Luis Valdez — who is often referred to as the father of Chicano cinema — clearly has an admiration and respect for the material, and that respect carries over into every scene of the film.
The Special Features
My favorite special feature would likely be the inclusion of original audition tapes for the core cast. Seeing Lou Diamond Phillips read for the role of Ritchie Valens leaves no question as to why he was selected for the part. He brings a tender honesty to the character that’s necessary for the script to work. Also included are a discussion between director Luis Valdez and Robert Rodriguez, an interview with Valdez, a making-of featurette, audio commentaries and the original trailer.
Would I Recommend This Purchase? Yes, but only if you want the song stuck in your head for a week.
Is It Worth a Blind Buy? Absolutely. As a true crowd pleaser, few are likely to be disappointed with this one.
8/10
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