Raul: O Início, o Fim e o Meio

The documentary tells the life of Raul Seixas through archive footage. He was born in Bahia, grew up on rock and roll, went to Rio and became one of the best known musicians in Brazil in the seventies. He was censored under the military dictatorship, forced out of the country, came back, struggled with drink and died in 1989 at forty nine. Walter Carvalho directs. The method is archive rather than talking heads. Seixas's television appearances, concert recordings and interviews are used largely uncut; the musician tells his own story. The matter at the centre is which box he does not fit. He was not a protest singer and not entirely a popular one; he took up mysticism and mocked it, and that uncertainty gave him a particular place in Brazil. His partnership with Paulo Coelho is an important strand. The two wrote songs together and built the idea called Sociedade Alternativa, and both later moved away from that period in different ways. Walter Carvalho is among the best known cinematographers in Brazil and keeps the same visual care in his documentaries. Its limit is structure. It proceeds chronologically, the critical view is limited, and the addiction is not dug into enough. Who it is for: anyone interested in Brazilian music and documentaries about musicians. Who it is not for: the context is missing without a knowledge of Seixas, the archive quality varies, and the narrative never leaves the tone of admiration.