Why we recommend it
The film works as an anthology of moments that shaped Ney Matogrosso’s career, featuring the immense talent of Jesuíta Barbosa in portraying one of the most iconic artists in Brazilian culture, and the competent direction of Esmir Filho.
Review
There are some figures in popular culture who earn the status of “mythical”. Names that carry so much history and influence that their mere mention is enough to convey them. Even so, film biographies will inevitably be made about them. In Brazil, Ney Matogrosso is one of those names. And his inevitable biopic has just hit theaters, directed by Esmir Filho (Verlust), with Jesuíta Barbosa (Futuro Beach) in the lead role, and with Ney Matogrosso himself collaborating on the production. Together, they deliver a movie that, despite being fraught with many of the usual problems of films of this type, still enchants and moves.
It’s possible to draw parallels between Latin Blood: The Ballad of Ney Matogrosso and two other recent productions: Better Man and Rocketman, the respective biopics of Robbie Williams and Elton John. The films about these two British singers have the common point of relying on their direct collaboration, being very honest portraits of the artist and the cultural habitat that generated him. It’s also interesting to see the similarities between the stories of Elton John and Ney Matogrosso. Both sons of emotionally distant and abusive military fathers, raised in a conservative home and who adopted exaggerated and theatrical looks as their trademark when they embarked on their artistic careers. The main difference between Latin Blood: The Ballad of Ney Matogrosso and these two examples is that Ney came through his years of success reasonably unscathed. The same fall into drug addiction or conflict with sexuality that marked the stories of Williams and John are not shown. The film conveys the image of a self-assured Ney from childhood onwards, and his greatest personal dilemmas stem from his relationships with his father, Cazuza and Marco de Maria.
That’s why the movie serves more as a portrait of Ney as an artist. His methods and references, but above all, his music. The opening sequence begins with him as a child (Davi Malizia) looking at the forest near his house, with a mixture of amazement and attraction. The image of the boy entering the forest is interspersed with the adult Ney, in his first solo performance after the break-up of Secos e Molhados. This parallel between the two Neys in two time periods conveys the idea of discovery, as if the fully developed form of Ney Matogrosso, adorned with his elaborate make-up and costumes on his half-naked body, was a discovery of the child Ney, a fantastical creature he encounters in the jungle. But it’s also a reflection that he’s getting closer to. These elements are shown and not simply told. Esmir Filho’s competent direction shines brightest when it avoids the obvious of musician biographies. One scene shows Ney as a child accompanying his mother to a revue performance. In another, the exercises Ney practiced during his training in the Air Force are reminiscent of the movements he will make in front of audiences in the future. These are elegant ways of telling how Ney Matogrosso was built. Esmir also makes use of interesting visual metaphors. The pet snake that Ney had in the 80s approaching him in a threatening way so as not to bite him in the end is an almost ghostly representation of the Aids epidemic. It’s also the case at the moment when darkness abruptly swallows Cazuza during the concert that Ney directed, and his act of turning off the last spot of light on stage takes on the same meaning as a flower on top of a coffin.
Latin Blood: The Ballad of Ney Matogrosso only fails because of its episodic nature, as it doesn’t have a narrative focus beyond “this is Ney Matogrosso’s life”, becoming in its less ambitious moments almost a Wikipedia article in movie form. What’s more, the decision to have Jesuíta lip-syncing to recordings of Ney’s original voice causes strangeness in some scenes. In fact, no amount of singing training could make the actor’s naturally deeper voice imitate the high pitches that Ney achieves in his most famous songs. And it turns out to be a way of preserving and even celebrating the identity of the artist whose story is being told. But when the illusion doesn’t work, it becomes a little obvious that it’s not Jesuíta who’s singing. Apart from that, his performance as Ney Matogrosso is phenomenal. The make-up and characterization help, but it’s the actor who really convinces us that we’re seeing several years of the same person’s life. Jesuíta doesn’t seem to be merely imitating the real figure when he adopts the look and mannerisms of the real one. He seems possessed. And even if it’s not his voice in there, the energy he displays in the various performances (and in the various fucks) seems to come from Ney himself.
Where to watch Latin Blood: The Ballad of Ney Matogrosso:
Credits
Director and Screenwriter: Esmir Filho
Screenplay: Esmir Filho
Produced by: Marcio Fraccaroli, Andre Fraccaroli, Veronica Stumpf
Associate Producer: Rodrigo Castellar
Executive Production: Rodrigo Castellar, Mariana Marcondes
Cast: Jesuíta Barbosa, Jullio Reis, Bruno Montaleone, Rômulo Braga, Hermila Guedes, Mauro Soares, Jeff Lyrio, Danilo Grangheia, Augusto Trainotti, Bela Leindecker, Caroline Abras, Regina Chaves
Special appearances: Céu, Sarah Oliveira
Cinematography: Azul Serra
Art Direction: Thales Junqueira
1st Assistant Director: Kity Féo
Costume Design: Gabriella Marra
Makeup: Martin Trujillo
Editing: Germano de Oliveira
Sound Recording: Ana Penna
Sound Editing: Martin Griganaschi
Sound Mixing: Armando Torres Jr, ABC
Music Supervision and Original Music: Amabis
Casting: Anna Luiza Paes de Almeida
Production Management: Karla Amaral
Production: Paris Entretenimento
Associate Producers: Rodrigo Castellar, Adrien Muselet, Esmir Filho
Distribution: Paris Filmes
Coproduction: Claro
Support: Riofilme
Rating: 16 years
Runtime: 130 minutes
