Simonal

Leonardo Domingues's 2019 Brazilian film tells the story of Wilson Simonal, one of the country's biggest-selling singers in the sixties. Simonal filled stadiums with a style of his own that joined samba to pop; then his career collapsed rapidly amid accusations that he had collaborated with the military dictatorship. The event at the centre is Simonal going to the political police to have his accountant, whom he believed was stealing from him, interrogated. That single decision became the basis of the claim that he informed for the regime. The film does not try to refute the accusations, but it does argue that the speed of the collapse cannot be explained by one incident alone and that racism had its part in it. Fabricio Boliveira's performance catches the stage energy. The music is the strongest element; Simonal's recordings are being reassessed today and the film is part of that renewed interest. Who it's for: those interested in Brazilian popular music and the history of the dictatorship. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a firm verdict on the accusations; the historical assessment remains contested in Brazil.