Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues - The Soul of a Man

Director Wim Wenders (Buena Vista Social Club; Wings of Desire; Paris, Texas ) explores the lives of his favorite blues artists — Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson, and J. B. Lenoir — in a film that is part history and part personal pilgrimage. The film tells the story of these artists' lives in music through a fictional film-within-a-film, rare archival footage, and covers of their songs by contemporary musicians, including Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams, Lou Reed, Eagle Eye Cherry, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Cassandra Wilson, Garland Jeffreys, Los Lobos, and others. Says Wenders: "These songs meant the world to me. I felt there was more truth in them than in any book I had read about America, or in any movie I had ever seen. I've tried to describe, more like a poem than in a 'documentary,' what moved me so much in their songs and voices." The Blues™, executive produced by Martin Scorsese, consists of seven feature-length films that capture the essence of the blues while exploring how this art form so deeply influenced music and people the world over. The series begins with the journey from Africa to the Mississippi Delta — where the music grew from slaves' field hollers, work songs and spirituals — then travels up the Mississippi River to the juke joints, house parties and recording studios of Memphis and Chicago, and culminates with the emotional embrace of this African-American creation by musicians and people throughout the world. "The blues is at once American and worldly," said Martin Scorsese, who began work on the project six years ago. "It's a form of storytelling that is so universal that it has inspired people beyond our borders and continues to influence music here and abroad. We're hopeful that the series and YEAR OF THE BLUES will introduce new audiences worldwide to this music and also inspire kids, whether they like rock or hip hop, to better understand the struggles and genius that gave birth to what they listen to today." "Our goal never was to produce the definitive work on the blues," Scorsese added. "It was, from the start, to create highly personal and impressionistic films as seen through the eyes of the most creative directors around with a passion for this music." The Blues is the culmination of a great ambition for Scorsese — to honor the music he loves, to preserve its legacy and to work closely with talented feature film directors united in their desire to celebrate this art.