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Zakir and His Friends [imdb] [viff] Dir: Lutz Leonhardt Country: Germany

Warning: This review is written by someone who really admires Zakir Hussein, and would probably like a film about him even if it was Canadian.

I first saw him only a couple of months ago at the WOMAD festival down in Seattle- and then I only decided to see him because I liked the name. Had no idea what I was in for. Live, he was a remarkable storyteller and a simply astounding drummer. He plays the tabla drums, a kind of bongo-like drum from India. In concert, he seems to not only want to entertain the audience, but educate them in the ways of the tabla instrument, and how he goes about playing it. But enough about him...

The film is more of a documentary about drumming in general than about Zakir himself. The opening sequence of a parade through a darkened Indian city is very reminiscent of "Bakara" or those other two films that have those really difficult to spell names. You know what I mean, yes? The camreas follow Zakir from San Francisco, where he played with a jazz sax group, to India where he is literally mobbed on the street for autographs.

We also visit Japan, Bali, and a host of other countries, listening to the traditional drumming sounds of the country, in addition to simple street noises that have their own kind of beat and rhythm.

Unless you really like drummers, this movie will most likely be rather boring, as there are very long segments where the camera simply sits there, watching the drummers do their stuff. Even I, a certifiable drum nut, was getting a bit tired of some of the longer scenes. All in all, a well-made, but not exceptional film about the beat.