The mesmerizing songs of Brazilian pianist Francisco Tenorio Júnior first caught the attention of Spanish director Fernando Trueba in a record shop two decades ago. The music left such an enchanting spell on Trueba that he began looking for other compositions by Tenorio. Much to his astonishment, he couldn’t find any additional work as Tenorio vanished under peculiar circumstances back in 1976 while touring in Buenos Aires.
Presumptions about Tenorio's fate gravitate towards his unintentional violation of an unknown curfew in a city under a stringent authoritarian government. Despite Tenorio being a professional musician rather than a prominent public figure or activist, the probable theory suggests he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Trueba didn’t immediately decide on creating an animated film to tell Tenorio's story but was drawn to it after collaborating with artist Javier Marsical on multiple projects. The lack of visual resources to describe Tenorio's story triggered Trueba’s creativity to create a colorful animated mosaic that amalgamates a musical documentary, a political dissection, and a linear biography narrated by a journalist.
However, the film is limited in its narrative approach. Acclaimed actor and jazz pianist Jeff Goldblum plays the role of the fictional journalist from Brooklyn, Jeff Harris, elucidating Tenorio's story based on his research for a book about bossa nova music. While Goldblum’s performance is both naturally engaging and quick-witted, the story could have also been successfully reproduced without Harris's character.
The versatility of the animated format gives it an added allure as it allows viewers to uncover hidden gems- books, paintings, photographs - scattered through the frames. On a more heartbreaking note, the film touches upon the crippling effect of Tenorio’s vanishing on his family. His offspring, now in their 50s, reveal their faint recollections of him, and there's a gloomy acknowledgment that Tenorio’s progeny never knew him.
The animated narrative effectively portrays how 'disappearing' individuals not only eliminates them but also cultivates a chilling fear among their loved ones. It amplifies the notion of power that the authoritarian government of Argentina flaunted, rendering their citizens' lives into a horrifying reality. The film concurrently narrates the victims' traumatizing experiences as the secret police audaciously wreak havoc on their lives.
Subtly narrated and engagingly animated, the film takes the audience on a thrilling journey through a significant era in pop music while cleverly connecting it to a sorrowful event. The narrative intriguingly suggests that bossa nova's international breakthrough parallels the French New Wave film revolution. Hence, cinephiles will also revel in the delightful inclusion of animated reworkings of iconic scenes from celebrated films such as Breathless and the 400 Blows.
Over time, Trueba has consistently showcased his versatile cinematic style. This film is no exception and beckons for viewing, preferably on the big screen but equally enjoyable when played aloud in the confined comfort of your home.
