A documentary by Carlos Saura. In Spanish with no subtitles. Unrated. Opens Friday, December 16, at the Vancity Theatre

Veteran Spanish director Carlos Saura, who will turn 80 just after Christmas, has been making performance films at least since 1983, when he mounted his flamenco-fuelled version of Carmen. Since then, he has done more operas and straight-ahead concert docs, starting with 1995's Flamenco, followed by concert-compilation looks at Argentine Tango and Portuguese-language Fados. So Flamenco, Flamenco is a sequel, of sorts, and as pure musical staging, beyond content, this is the best thing he's ever done.

Much of the film's physical quality comes down to the involvement of senior cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (Reds, Last Tango in Paris), who was also with Saura on the first Flamenco and their recent I, Don Giovanni collaboration. Here, the futuristic, train-station-like space of Seville's Expo '92 pavilion has been decorated by scrims, screens, and backdrops, all bearing details from Iberian-themed drawings and paintings from many eras—from Goya to Picasso and more—with an emphasis on burned-earth tones and dusty carmine highlights.

The real star here, though, is the light, and how it (and occasionally rain) falls on the richly varied artists, lending even more drama to performers of many ages, but especially to energetic young dancers like Rocio Molina and Eva Yerbabuena. Some singers and guitarists—with instrumental wizard Paco de Lucía, saved for the end, certainly the best known internationally—are so mesmerizing that you could say that the presentation hardly matters. Of course, one can wonder about the director's decision to forgo subtitled translations of intense song lyrics. There is no context given, except for the title of each piece and the name of the principal performers.

Still, Saura's incredible sureness in how to bring out everyone's strengths, with unflagging passion, makes this dose of soul on-stage doubly convincing.

Watch the trailer for Flamenco, Flamenco.