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(More customer reviews)Julio Jaramillo (1935-1978) is known as "El Ruiseñor de America", and is a hero in his native Ecuador, even though much of his 20+ year career was largely spent in other South and Central American countries. Jaramillo was a superb singer of boleros, pasillos and valses (and wrote a few as well), his October 1st birthday is honored in Ecuador as "El Dia del Pasillo Ecuatoriano", and his songs are still getting plenty of airplay.
This biopic was a 1996 miniseries, and is somewhat fictionalized, but has many of his songs, and does not omit his womanizing and drinking, which was to shorten his life, as he died of sclerosis of the liver at the age of 53. There is a prophetic old woman in the film who tells him as she grabs a bottle from his hand, "Esto sera tu peor enemigo", and it surely was.
Though heavily flawed, I'm giving this a very high rating for the fantastic music, the earnest acting by the entire cast, the scenes of Guayaquil and the realistic feel for the different eras as the time progresses in the story, as well as its pure entertainment value. It may be an unpretentious TV show, but it succeeds in being very enjoyable. Some of the flaws include a little fuzziness to the dialogue audio, and in the middle of the 2nd disc, some credits appear on the screen.
The part of Jaramillo is taken by an actor I assume is his son, with the same name of Julio Alfonso Jaramillo, who lip-syncs the original songs (I know he has a son named Julian Jaramillo who is a singer, but could find no information on a son named Julio); among the rest of the cast are Alvaro Correa, Francisco Espinosa, Telia Estupiñan, Alfaro Gonzales, and Lupe Machado, and they are all well directed by Cesar Carmigniani.The first disc shows him as a shoemaker, singing in a cheap tavern, his first minor hit, "Fatalidad", and the song that made him famous, the gorgeous "Nuestro Juramento", and of being drafted into the army.
Other songs on Disc # 1 are: "Alma Mia", "Sendas Distintas", "Tu y Yo", "Por Tu Amor", "Felicitacion", "Ayer y Hoy", "Carnaval de la Vida", "Guayaquil de Mis Amores" (dueto con Fresia Saavedra), "Rondando Tu Esquina", "Interrogacion", "Mi Locura".
The second disc shows him having a bad time in the army, usually doing push-ups to make up for misbehavior, and his many troubles with women, more than one of them who is "encinta".
The songs on Disc # 2 are (some are repeats): "Ayer y Hoy", "Rondando Tu Esquina", "Guayaquileña", "Interrogacion", "El Alma en los Labios", "Quando Llora Mi Guitarra", "Nuestro Juramento", "No Me Digas", "Que Te Perdone Dios", "Tu y Yo", "Ay Mexicanita", "El Regreso", "Carnaval de la Vida".
As a personal aside, I spent my first five years in Ecuador, and my early memories of music are of Nicasio Safadi coming to our home to give my mother guitar lessons. There is a scene in the film that has a poster advertising Nicasio Safadi, and his famous "Guayaquil de Mis Amores" is partially sung in the first half of the film, which was one of the songs Safadi taught my mom, making this a journey down memory lane for me, as well as heavenly to listen to, and a delightful film of one of Latin America's greatest musical artists. I also enjoy the still photos of Jaramillo that are on occasion spliced into the film. Fans of Jaramillo's music will love this film, and others will surely be motivated by it to buy some of his CDs.
The songs written by Jaramillo are "Sendas Distintas", "Mi Locura", "Guayaquileña", and "Ay Mexicana". The final scene is an interview with Jaramillo's brother Pepe, and shows scenes from Jaramillo's actual funeral, with throngs of people following the casket.
There are no subtitles available in this DVD, and no extras, and the total running time is 2 hours and 55 minutes.
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Julio Jaramillo: Ruisenor de America
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