La Plena

Year Published: 1966

Creator: Departmento de Instruccion Publica Division de Educacion de la Comunidad Puerto Rico

Format: 16mm

Color: Color

Sound: sound

Description: This film presents the traditional music of Puerto Rico. Tracing the influences of various people of Puerto Rico on the music, the accents of "La Plena" are heard in the music of typical songs and are illustrated by the San Juan Ballet troupe. This rare film was made for the Puerto Rican government, and focuses on the "bomba" and "plena" song forms, and on the mountain jíbaro culture in which they thrive. Music is by Sindo Mangual y su grupo de pleneros, Mon Rivera, and others. One performer reads a newspaper, writes a song about a story, then sings it; mural painter Rafael Tufino uses 16mm film can as a palette; a cuatro maker's shop is shown. Director Amilcar Tirado was born in 1922 in Coamo, Puerto Rico, passed away in 2004, and made more than 30 films.