There is nothing new about Ciro Guerra's plot for his second film "Los Viajes del Viento (The Wind Journeys)" Most of us have seen this story many times before, a variation of Joseph Campbell's The Heroes' Journey. Story-wise, a few movies come to mind: Crossroads, the Matrix, and many more.
You could even say that this movie also provides a basis for what was to be Guerra's next film, the highly recommended and Oscar-nominated "The Serpents Embrace", another variation of the Hero's Journey across the amazonian landscape.
The true innovation about this movie is that it takes place in a geography never seen before in a movie: The stunning North Atlantic Coast Colombian landscape, and that it covers the many ethnicities and music that habit such landscape. Another interesting twist in the story is that it takes place in the past and it covers some local historical events, like the 1st Vallenato Festival in 1968. providing the viewer with the origins and history of what was to become "modern" vallenato.
SPOILER For those who do not understand the end of the story, here it is in a nutshell: The protagonist starts a journey to return his accordion to the person who gave it to him and taught him how to play it; after his wife passes away, so he can stop playing music and move on with his life. Once the protagonist completes his journey, he finds his master has died while waiting for his return, but he basically left him his home, wife and children, the family he never had, but always wanted. This is why we see the hero's companion return alone through the desert to his home.
You could even say that this movie also provides a basis for what was to be Guerra's next film, the highly recommended and Oscar-nominated "The Serpents Embrace", another variation of the Hero's Journey across the amazonian landscape.
The true innovation about this movie is that it takes place in a geography never seen before in a movie: The stunning North Atlantic Coast Colombian landscape, and that it covers the many ethnicities and music that habit such landscape. Another interesting twist in the story is that it takes place in the past and it covers some local historical events, like the 1st Vallenato Festival in 1968. providing the viewer with the origins and history of what was to become "modern" vallenato.
SPOILER For those who do not understand the end of the story, here it is in a nutshell: The protagonist starts a journey to return his accordion to the person who gave it to him and taught him how to play it; after his wife passes away, so he can stop playing music and move on with his life. Once the protagonist completes his journey, he finds his master has died while waiting for his return, but he basically left him his home, wife and children, the family he never had, but always wanted. This is why we see the hero's companion return alone through the desert to his home.