Folklór vo fraku

A trip through the diversity of black and native Peruvian music. Character-driven film, one where the characters are integral to the nation itself. This movie delves into music and musicians, yet it's not strictly a musical; rather, it's a tapestry of seemingly disparate personal narratives woven together in a country also striving to define itself and sketch its identity

Chan Kwai-sheung visits the brothel with So Tung-bo while his wife, Lau Yuk-ngo, is sleeping. As this is the first time Sheung did this, Ngo wants him to suffer and so makes him wear a lamp on his head. During the Lantern Festival, the Emperor has fun with his officials. After a few drinks, Bo says that Ngo has lost the virtues of a woman. Ngo immediately appeals to the Emperor. All the women there, including the Empress, say that Bo should be punished. Bo is unhappy and invites his cousin, Kam Cho, seduce Sheung to make Ngo unhappy. Sheung, a philanderer, schemes to take Cho as his concubine. Ngo finds out and beats him. Bo urges Sheung to divorce Ngo. Ngo is furious and lodges a complaint with the imperial court. The Emperor allows Sheung to have a concubine. Ngo pleads that she would rather drink poison than let Sheung take a concubine. Feeling remorseful, Sheung drinks the poison after his wife. Fortunately, the queen has switched the poison with vinegar. The couple reconciles.

In a small Southern town, a plantation owner is duped into thinking a thief is a kind stranger. To repay the stranger for stopping a robbery, the plantation owner invites him to his home to meet his daughter.

For the 'Are'are people of the Solomon Islands, the most valued music is that of the four types of panpipe ensembles. With the exception of slit drums, all musical instruments are made of bamboo; therefore the general word for instruments and the music performed with them is "bamboo" ('au). This film shows the making of panpipes, from the cutting the bamboo in the forest to the making of the final bindings. The most important part of the work consists in shaping each tube to its necessary length. Most 'Are'are panpipe makers measure the length of old instruments before they shape new tubes. Master musician 'Irisipau, surprisingly, takes the measure using his body, and adjusts the final tuning by ear. For the first time we can see here how the instruments and their artificial equiheptatonic scale-seven equidistant degrees in an octave-are practically tuned.