Review – Genghis Blues

Blind blues singer Paul Pena is listening to his short-wave radio one night when he happens across a broadcast of Tuva throatsingers. He teaches himself to do this interesting trick, singing more than one note at a time. Then he journeys to Asia to meet some of the folks who do it for a living. He even manages to win a division in a national competition. The singing alone would have made a fascinating five-minute documentary, ten if they ever bothered to explain how it actually works. The trip might have been worth another five. But needless to say, this wasn’t a 15-minute movie. The bulk of the production is devoted to the uninteresting adventures of Pena and his troop of neo-hippie hangers-on as they wander aimlessly around. My personal favorite was the guy who was obsessed with his old pal Richard Feynman. Seriously, this guy just could not shut up about the dead mathematician. The final nail in the coffin was the graphic slaughter of a goat. That one scene alone cost this movie a star, maybe two. Wish I’d skipped it