A Filmmaker's Review: 'La Bamba' (1987)

The stunning story of the father of Chicano Rock, Ritchie Valens - this film gives us a highlight of his short life and his shoot to stardom when the song "Come On, Let's Go" gets released as a single. I'm not going to lie, I purely enjoyed this film because Ritchie Valens is one of my favourite singers of all time. This film is so enjoyable because it's fun and musical - it doesn't focus all too much on tragedy but focuses instead on giving you enough of Ritchie Valens to know how his legend was perfectly preserved by those around him. It is such an incredible film to watch.

Let's explore my history with this film then. First of all, as I've already told you - Ritchie Valens is one of my favourite singers and so, I was looking forward to watching this quite a bit. I had watched it in its entirety for the first time when I was about 17 and so, very recently - I watched it again. Mostly because I love the music. When it comes to music of the 1950s, Ritchie Valens is the ultimate teen idol, kind of like a Bobby Vee sort of figure before Bobby Vee. I loved watching a film based on his life, stardom and music. The only problem was that the film was quite choppy and short, I feel like they could've covered his background a little more and even started the film when he was slightly younger.

When it comes down to it, the main thing about the movie is the music and the performances. But I also loved the way that Ritchie was portrayed as a wholesome almost incredibly magical human being, because seriously that is how I would like to remember him. He was still technically a child when he died and so, I would like him to retain some of those child-like wholesome magical almost Peter Pan-esque qualities that made him so loveable whilst he was alive in the movie as well. And that happened, so I was happy.

The second thing I love about this film is the way the music is presented to us not through just random releases and montages but through performances and, if you're a Ritchie Valens fan like me, you'll go "I know that song!" every time another one is performed on stage. For example: when he performs "Come On, Let's Go" in the studio millions of times, you cannot help but sing along. When he performs "Donna" down the phone, when he performs in the large hall and sings "Framed" and "Ooh My Head and finally, after Eddie Cochran on stage - Ritchie performs "La Bamba," it is a real treat for his fans to see something that they probably didn't have the chance to see when he was alive: Ritchie enjoying his success and fame through performance.

Not only do we see the songs and the performance AND Ritchie Valens' height of fame, but we also get to see the family and where he came from. Ritchie Valens did come from a very poor Mexican background and wasn't, like some 50s stars, very privileged. He was basically what happens when the American Dream falls into the hands of a Latino Kid. It was such a raw and ruthless look at the way his family lived and what Ritchie wanted to do for his mother (i.e buy her a bigger house etc.), retaining his wholesomeness and also showing that his family were still fairly poor even though Ritchie was climbing the ladder. Everyone, including Ritchie, in his family, were still requiring of jobs and pay in order to make ends meet and I think that understanding that aspect of him is just as important, if not more so, than his music and lyrics. It shows us a background we never got to see from him otherwise.

So, to give you a quick round-up of everything I thought about the movie, here's a summary:

• It was great for showing Ritchie Valens' background and family - to know about where he came from was very interesting to watch
• It was amazing, as I'm a huge Ritchie Valens fan, to see what it would've looked like to watch Ritchie live on stage. The atmosphere looked incredible. It was nice to watch something that I would never be able to experience but, to experience it almost second hand
• It was great to see the way Ritchie Valens retained his humility and his wholesome nature even whilst he was making great music and hitting the charts. It showed a great side of his character that many may not have known

All in all, it is a great movie about an amazing singer/musician who was taken from us far, far too young. To think of all the possibilities for great music he may have had makes me quite upset because he never got the chance, but to think of what we've got to remember him by - including this incredible film - makes me happy to know that Ritchie Valens will live on. In this movie, the father of Chicano Rock definitely lives again.