My day job — of which I’m assuming some of you may be aware — is usually defined by the prompt: “Tell me something I ought to know.” That said, my very personal passion for movies is usually prompted by: “Take me somewhere I’ve never been before.” I practically whisper it to myself when the cinema lights go down. That “place” might actually be a physical location. But it could also be metaphysical. It might be an as yet-untapped emotion, or perhaps a fantastical dream. Through the years, directors have been my tour guides. As a kid, Walt Disney showed me the rooftops of London. As a teen, I was obsessed with westerns when John Ford would escort me to Monument Valley. And as a young adult, Costa Gavras transported me to the heartbreaking aftermath of a Chilean coup. From A to Z — "Alfie" to "The Zone of Interest" — oh, the places we’ve been.Which is why I’m particularly excited to report that two wildly different films, from different corners of the planet, are each, in my humble opinion, worthy of your own journey.
Up until a few months ago, my limited knowledge of Bossa Nova pretty much began and ended with my uncle’s vast early-1960s record collection, which included Astrud Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim. But ever since attending the North American premiere of "They Shot the Piano Player" in Toronto last fall, Bossa Nova classics have taken a firm grip of my phone’s playlist (and I double-dare you not to do the same). Part musical, part mystery, but all gloriously vibrant, this film is not to be missed. It’s an animated (a wonderful daring choice) docudrama that begins in modern day New York where music journalist Jeff Harris (voiced by Jeff Goldblum) is working on a piece for The New Yorker on the 50th anniversary of Bossa Nova. While researching, Harris stumbles upon a rare recording of a little-known but brilliant musician. He was professionally known only by his last name: Tenorio Jr. But the first wrinkle of the mystery is that this wonderful pianist has not been seen (let alone recorded any music) in nearly 50 years. Following a 1976 Buenos Aires club date, Tenorio went out to the street, and no one ever saw him again. Was he kidnapped? Perhaps tortured and/or murdered (it was six days before a military coup)? And what might the last breath of Peron’s regime of terror have anything to do with the vanishing of this musician? Tenorio’s disappearance left Brazilians and jazz enthusiasts bewildered for generations. And there you have the foundation of this jump-off-the-screen animated eye-popper. "They Shot the Piano Player" opens Friday, March 29. It’s far from a big budget offering (though I’m happy to note that since Toronto’s premiere, Sony Pictures Classics snapped up its U.S. distribution). Simply put, run, don’t walk to see this one. It’s so under-the-radar that I fear it may slip in and out of town in short notice.
