'Acabou, Chorare', the spirit of an era
Documentary recaptures the golden age of Brazilian Popular Music. “I show myself as I am and I become who I can be. Throwing my body into the world, walking through every corner and by the natural law of encounters, I give and receive a little.”
A leading exponent of one of the most prominent eras in the national music scene, emerging in Bahia and maturing on a farm in Rio de Janeiro, one of the most important groups in the history of MPB (Brazilian Popular Music), Novos Baianos, emerged.
Released and awarded (with the special jury prize and the popular jury vote) at the Brasília festival in 2009, Filhos de João. O Admirável Mundo Novo Baiano attempts to study and portray the spirit of an era. In a time marked by the repression and censorship of the military dictatorship, the inventive musicality and liberating character of the group influenced and drew crowds in their wake, carried away by hits such as: ''Preta Pretinha e Besta é Tu''.
With a clear inclination towards Rock in their first album, the group underwent a musical revolution after meeting the great João Gilberto. Because of this contact, the young musicians Moraes Moreira, Pepeu Gomes, Baby Consuelo, Paulinho Boca de Cantor, and others redefined their portfolio of influences and renewed their formula. And that's why the documentary is called "João's Children".
Interspersed with archival footage, sometimes through the mystical lens of old Super 8 films, giving it a homely and familiar feel, the focus is on the period when Os Baianos settled on the property in Jacarepaguá and from there conceived what would become one of the greatest albums in the history of Brazilian Popular Music (MPB): "Acabou Chorare".
Directed with palpable passion and a notable lack of resources by Henrique Dantas, the documentary is remarkable for capturing the spirit of an era that the people of Bahia helped to build.
Punctuated by testimonials from former members, with the exception of Baby Consuelo who requested an unaffordable sum for the director, the documentary, which took 11 years to research and complete, studies and delves into the aesthetic, musical, and philosophical landscape of the band. And it's satisfying to see Moraes speak candidly about the disagreements, reunions, and creative convergences that fueled the group's success.
And the charisma of the characters portrayed guarantees the audience's empathy even if you didn't like the group and didn't walk down Avenida Sete behind the trio that carried Moraes and company.
How could anyone not be charmed by a musical group that embraced its Brazilian roots and spent a good portion of its earnings investing in uniforms and balls for Novos Baianos FC? And at this point, the documentary introduces another interesting aspect: the Brazilian passion for football.
And we realize that Pepeu's feelings are completely sincere when he says he was thinking of leaving the group to live off football. And also when he reveals moments of "intimacy" where the members smoked their joints and chatted about history, philosophy, music, football, passions, and everything that came to their creative minds.
More than just a documentary about a career, it's an overview of Brazilian music in the 70s and 80s with a well-defined political background, at a time when making music was dangerous.
Besides the absence of Baby, which is a significant loss given the importance of a woman's perspective on the entire musical and temporal context, the absence of João Gilberto is also felt, as director Henrique Dantas recounts: "I spent ten days in Rio de Janeiro trying to interview him, but I couldn't," confirming the reputation for reclusion of one of Brazil's most influential and important singers and composers.
But some important guests fill the documentary with warmth and wisdom. Tom Zé, always controversial, gives a key testimony, where he talks about culture, censorship, freedom of expression and, above all, music. He is a kind of thread that unites the testimonies and gives shape to this mosaic of ideas and feelings.
And with a subtle tone, Dantas rejects the theme of the End. The impression remains that the band broke up because time, always relentless, passed. As Pepeu Gomes said: "We had many bad things, but I prefer to remember the good ones."
Just like us, we will remember the good things that the people of Bahia left us and find ourselves with a smile on our faces at the end of the screening, enchanted by these eternally young people from Bahia.