Documentary 'Where are you?' about João Gilberto premieres this week.
The documentary "Where Are You?" by Swiss filmmaker Georges Gachot premieres this week in the alternative cinema circuit; the film is about the life of singer João Gilberto, an icon of Brazilian music who, at 87 years old, faces legal issues regarding copyright and legal incapacitation; according to critic Luiz Carlos Merten, the film succeeds precisely because it doesn't delve into the legal entanglement; Gachot values João Gilberto's art, with recordings of historical performances and loose scenes of cinematic surveillance to try to capture images of the reclusive artist.
247 - The documentary "Where Are You?" by Swiss filmmaker Georges Gachot premieres this week in the alternative cinema circuit. The film is about the life of singer João Gilberto, an icon of Brazilian music who, at 87 years old, faces legal issues regarding copyright and legal incapacitation. According to critic Luiz Carlos Merten, the film succeeds precisely because it doesn't delve into the legal entanglement. Gachot values João Gilberto's art, with footage of historic performances and loose scenes of cinematic surveillance to try and capture images of the reclusive artist.
Merten, in report from the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, contextualizes Gachot's work: "aAuthor of beautiful documentaries about great figures in Brazilian Popular Music (MPB), the Swiss filmmaker Georges Gachot always had a gap in his resume. How to make a film about the reclusive João Gilberto? How to find (and interview) a man who doesn't want to be found? Gachot discovered the book Ho-Ba-La-La, by the German author Marc Fischer – published in 2011 by Companhia das Letras – and made Where are you, João Gilberto?
Possessing a surgically precise and sensitive critical writing style, Merten adds that: "the The film follows the structure of the book. Gachot, like Fischer himself, follows the trail of the mythical artist. He interviews people close to him, stakes out places where João might appear. And he presents unique moments from this extraordinary career – João Gilberto singing, in that way only he knows how, "Menino do Rio" in Montreux.
The critic also celebrates the documentary's premiere:Where are you...? It's beautiful, and much of that beauty comes from Gachot's refusal to incorporate the recent legal disputes involving the artist and his family (or heirs). The Rio he portrays is also not the Rio of banditry, stray bullets, and military occupations. It's a mythical Rio, like the one that saw the birth of bossa nova, of which João Gilberto was perhaps the most legitimate representative.
'Where Are You, João Gilberto?', by Georges Gachot, is about Brazil.
Where are you, João Gilberto?
(Switzerland, Germany, France/2018, 107 min.)
Directed by Georges Gachot. Starring Georges Gachot, Miúcha, and João Donato.