User Reviews

Greetings again from the darkness. Although I was too young to attend Woodstock in 1969, I vividly recall the first time I saw the 1970 concert film, as I was stunned by the energetic performances, the dedicated attendees, and the mass of people making the best of rain, drugs, and music. By this time, I was attuned to Hendrix, The Who, Joplin, and most of the others, but the band that shook me was Santana. Familiar with only one song, "Evil Ways", off their debut album, I was mesmerized by the pure force of their live "Soul Sacrifice" performance - the relentless drumming of Michael Shrieve (20 years old) and the blazing guitar work from band leader Carlos Santana (a 22-year-old).

With this documentary, Rudy Valdez (THE SENTENCE, 2018), delivers so much more than the typical musician biography. Sure, we get the basic background information, but thanks to chats with Carlos Santana himself, we learn more about the man and how his being is meshed with the music. Born in Mexico, Carlos' dad played in a mariachi band and taught him to play the violin. The unusual route to rock and roll stardom began when Carlos switched to guitar and the family moved to San Francisco. His blending of Latin Jazz and Blues with rock and roll delivered a sound we had not previously heard. Carlos' began playing regular gigs at the Fillmore West, and things kicked into gear once promoter/producer Bill Graham got involved.

Carlos formed a band and Graham instituted 'festival training' culminating in the live performance at Woodstock. Carlos tells an incredible story about Jerry Garcia (of The Grateful Dead) handing him some drugs, and the next thing Carlos knew, the band was called on stage in the midst of his acid trip. If you've seen the movie, the facial expressions will make complete sense once Carlos recalls what he was seeing with that trusty guitar in his hands. It's one of the best rock stories you'll hear. A week after Woodstock, Santana's debut album was released by Clive Davis at Columbia Records.

The family background is interesting enough, but the real value here is in the self-reflection from Carlos. Apparently, the interview was conducted over a period of time, so we see variations and moods from the man with magic music. Carlos even discusses his time as a disciple of spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy ... including haircut, white suits, and self-discovery. Carlos confesses how once "Smooth", recorded in 1999 with Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, became a monster hit, he finally felt validated.

Not many musicians get to have a professional career that spans more than fifty years ... or have a wife who is a skilled drummer ... or have a 'slithering snake' story with a spot in rock lore. But Carlos Santana, now 76 years old, has all of that, and has recently been battling a public relations nightmare after a statement he made regarding the trans community. As for the documentary, the interviews and archival footage and photos provide a nice look at the man behind the music.

Opening in select theaters on September 23, 2023 and going wide on September 29.

Have you ever heard of Carlos Santana, the musician widely known as a guitarist and singer? The new documentary, Carlos, combines old and new footage to tell his story as he navigates many elements of his life, not just his career. With so much excellent footage and informative narration, Carlos is a must-see for everyone, especially the musically inclined.

Carlos follows legendary guitarist Carlos Santana as he starts off playing ukulele with his family and ends up producing music that we know today. From leaving his job, sacrificing the major support system of his family to pursue his passion, to performing at Woodstock with hundreds of thousands of people in the audience, to the band eventually breaking up, the story of Carlos Santana is explored. While the primary focus of this film is on Santana's career and the obstacles he faced there, it also touches on how his decisions and his career have affected his family life.

The structure of Carlos is part of what makes this film so informative and easy to follow. The documentary follows his life in chronological order, and includes a variety of footage that helps tell his story clearly. For the early parts of his life Carlos Santana narrates as photographs and videos of his beginnings with family and performances are shown on screen. Newer interviews define more current parts of his life. For fans of Carlos's music or anyone interested in creating music, the behind-the-scenes footage of his music is being produced is sure to be an attention-grabber. Hearing Carlos's own thoughts about events of his life makes the film very interesting, as they provide a depth and understanding to the actions he took and why he took them. While the structure provides a lot of information, it occasionally leads to losing focus or being overwhelmed. However, Santana's humorous narration as well as the editing of new and old footage prevents being disinterested for very long.

The theme of Carlos is to never give up. Pursuing your dreams and your interests is so important, and dreams really can come true if you put your mind to them and work hard. Santana also reminds us of the importance of keeping in touch with loved ones and maintaining positive relationships no matter what your personal goals are. The film does contain some profanity and other mature content.

I give Carlos 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 12 to 18, plus adults. You can watch Carlos in theaters beginning September 29, 2023. By Kyla C., KIDS FIRST!

Yesterday I had the privilege to watch the premiere of "Carlos", together with some of my closest friends. It was a wonderful experience as the documentary is overall very well made.

In terms of technical aspects, the production is excellent. The sound and editing are very well done and the well-picked archive materials were mixed in naturally, adding very intuitively to the overall story. There were many detailed facts that were highly accurate; something that adds to the integrity of the rest of the material.

The best part of the production is the scope setting and how consistently the director stayed within this scope. This is not a movie about the Santana Band and its history, it's not even as much about Carlos as a musician, although being a musician is a main driver of his identity. The main theme as about a man overcoming his insecurities through life through a belief in himself, fed by various father figures. That's a universal theme and was subtly blended with other themes including immigration, sexual harassment, financial hardship, divorce, addictions, loss of loved ones, challenges in trusted relationships and modern-day pressure of society. I'm convinced every viewer should be able to relate to at least a few of these elements; so you don't need to be a Santana fan to be able to appreciate this movie a lot. Despite some of these heavier themes, the general atmosphere of the movie is actually light and full with humor and subtleties.

Carlos had a battered childhood; something the movie treated delicately (and thankfully didn't over-index on). His story depicted in "Carlos" is about his journey through life, battling his insecurities and his process of making peace with his inner secrets. Some key support figures in this journey have been his father, his guru Sri Chinmoy and his two mentors in the music business (Bill Graham and Clive Davis). Personally, I believe Armando Peraza should have been recognized as the fifth "father-figure" but was sadly missing. In either event, the film concentrated on this scope and there was not much or even nothing about his former band members, other friends, his musical inspirations, his mother or brother, or relationship with his fans. One could criticize that narrow scope, but I believe it was very supportive of a strong film as the consistency of the theme allowed for a well-flowing narrative and it provided sufficient depth at the same time. Another point of criticism could be that we don't hear many external critical points of view, although that is compensated by some honest self-reflections Carlos shares.

For his many music fans, this it should also be a very pleasing watching experience as the film provides a lot of revealing background that offers context to his rich music legacy. Moreover, the film contains some fantastic archive materials, including the first ever recorded music by Carlos, which is a gem for true fans as that material has never been accessible before. There were a few great clips of Carlos playing shirtless at home, almost as a physically metaphor of being stripped from everything else and just presenting him as the man he truly is.

To conclude, this movie is an absolute pleasure to watch as it was made with a very specific intention and a lot of integrity. It was a great walk through a music icon's life and it was very comforting to see that Carlos is doing so well. Bless him.

Feeling of inner peace. I looked at the people leaving the theatre - everyone was smiling. A smile, a ray of light, a feeling of warmth. Peace Carlos Santana has achieved and I was unaware what it must have cost him - it came as a shock. How does one overcome most tragic circumstances and rise? What a soul and what an example, his talent the wave on which he rides. He's not what he does, he says; and yet the music is what got him through, that unique blend between Latin and the Blues, which he had from the get-go. Blues, the Healer. My only complaint is that the film didn't feature his stellar collaboration with John Lee Hooker.

Legendary people are few and far between but Carlos Santana is more than worthy of the title! I have been into this guy's music since I was a young kid; through my DJ' years to where I am today.

Although I did find this documentary to have some interesting moments I, have to admit that I think it was a bit scrappy. It jumped about a lot and a lot of the used previously unseen footage was fairly dull and only of interest , most likely, to the superfans. He has a good outlook on what he wants to do but came over to me as finding it hard to know who he is; maybe that is why in some of his younger days footage he comes across as a total dick! I don't think I would ever watch it again as it just wasn't of a very high standard.