Fabricating Tom Zé
Fabricating Tom Zé
| 07 June 2006 (USA)
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The life and work of one of the most controversial Brazilian musicians, having as its backdrop Tom Zé's 2005 European Tour. The documentary shows a detailed vision of Tom Zé's personal musical universe, in which a guitar and a vacuum cleaner have the same melodic importance. In intimate interviews, he narrates different parts of his life and tells us about his musical debut in the early 60s, his downfall during the 70s, and his 90s comeback.

Reviews
BootDigest

Such a frustrating disappointment

ThedevilChoose

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

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Suman Roberson

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

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Billy Ollie

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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heybabyxxx

Tom Zé is a very creative Brazilian musician, whose work is unique, very sophisticated and one that deserves a great deal of attention (some have called him "the Brazilian Frank Zappa", not because they sound alike _they don't!_, but because the two of them studied classical music but composed popular music). Unfortunately, this documentary (that follows a somewhat cowardly and lazy trend in the contemporary Brazilian "film industry", documentaries about popular musicians _they're cheap and easy to make and have an almost guaranteed audience) fails to be as ambitious and rigorous as the artist it portraits.Basically, we see Tom Zé on tour in Europe (France, Italy and Switzerland), to show us how he works with his band (with a great deal of improvisation _his concerts frequently seem like rehearsals, which sometimes is fun, sometimes not) and his wife and manager, but also to rub in our faces that an anti-commercial and under-appreciated artist from the backlands of a poor country in South America can "make it" (the tone is obviously hagiographic).Then there is a quick (and therefore failed) attempt to biograph him. Then he is shown as a misunderstood genius and the film tries to answer why it took so long for him to get his well-deserved (although not big) recognition (citing old grudges that are unexplained) but, again, it fails to do so. Basically, it is a very poor, confusing and disappointing film _very differently from Mr. Zé's music. Sadly, it doesn't do him and his work justice. But check out his albums, though _specially his masterpiece, "Estudando o Samba".

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