Tropicália: Let it be more than just another utopia

01 Jul, 2013

By Fernanda Franco
Translation Jessica Whitfield

In these times of public protest in Brazil, the British premier of the film Tropicalia, by Marcelo Machado, could not have come at a better time. Watching the film, one is inevitably inclined to try and understand the current situation by linking it to historical factors. The narrative follows the path and influences of an artistic movement which changed the lives of many people who lived in Brazil during the years of dictatorship. This feature film portrays a reality far from the one that we, Brazilians, have witnessed in the last few weeks. However, I would like to highlight here a similarity between the motives which led the nation to rebel against its own government. These were totally different ages, with opposing politics, yet both periods shared a common struggle: the search for a better and fairer country!

Whether through music, theatre or films, artists do not allow themselves to be oppressed. Through their work, artists try to express theirs’ and the nation’s will. Tropicalism was an artistic fusion that mixed aspects of traditional national culture with daring and transformative aesthetic innovations. The film narrates moments from Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil’s journey (during 1967 to 1972), as these key figures of the movements reflect upon society at the time.

At the very start of the film Caetano comments on the presence of a very strong, left leaning and anti-imperialist nationalist culture in the country around the late sixties. Later, he claims to mistrust nationalist sentiments which people, in huge numbers, cling to so easily. He saw anti-American feelings as something un-serious and superficial. These ideas are implicit in his compositions from that time, which as we already know, were not to everybody’s taste at first.

The film’s captivating narrative is an intriguing combination of poetry and music. The music seems as if it were its own character in the film, compelling and arresting and edited with strong, impacting images. In the very first scene we see Caetano and Gil being interviewed in Lisbon in 1969, when they were already in exile. The pair is surprised by the presenter’s question about the possible predominance of the Tropicalista movement in both their work. Caetano reacts defensively, claiming that Tropicalism no longer existed as a movement. The documentary unfolds and we return to 1967, where various cultural events marked changes in the philosophy of the age. It is a rich archive of rare and enchanting images. In one sequence, it presents the moment in which Brazilian music became labeled; it shows the start of the programs and televised festivals, which attracted a diligent and proactive audience. The documentary shows unedited clips of the band Os Mutantes; the March of One Hundred Thousand; and the wake of the student Edson Luis de Lima Santo, who was killed while protesting against the rise in price of food in his college’s cafeteria.

The documentary, with executive production by Fernando Meirelles, comes to England in July.
See the screenings below:

Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Rd, London – 7 July
Star and Shadow Cinema, Newcastle – 7 July
Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland High St, London – 8 July
Curzon Soho, 99 Shaftesbury Ave, London – 7-10 July
The Sugar Club, 8 Lower Leeson St, Dublin – 13 July
WOMAD Festival, Charlton Park, Malmesbury – 29 July
Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds – 8 August
The Sugar Club, 8 Lower Leeson St, Dublin – 22 August