In the great "A Paixão de JL" we had the unconventional yet engrossing view of Brazilian plastic artist José Leonilson by hearing the man through
his audio tapes and observing images from his works, things, films, events that molded his life. We never get to see his face. What was shown there
was the man's views of himself, life and art. This new take "Leonilson, Under the Weight of My Passions" presents the man as perceived by his family,
friends and colleagues, brief archive interviews with him and it's a nice add to the other documentary. Carlos Neder directed both.
Leonilson was a highly influential artist from the 80's Generation with more than 4000 works on his resume in between paintings, works with fabric
and drawings, with peculiar and noticeable characteristics (plenty of wording used, never to explain but more to instigate thoughts from the public);
and from the enormous group of young artists from the period he was one of the top figures. The early 1990's was a sadly painful turning
point for him he discovered as having AIDS, a disease that claimed his life in 1993 at age 37. With the diagnosis he conceived more conceptual works
that were an echo about the disease, society, prejudice and other things he viewed as important to be registered through his art and those works are
considered as his magnum opus. We those paintings we can understand the man, the artist and his era.
As said, this film takes a different view from the other thanks to the input from other people who could present a different portrait from what he
registered on his audio recordings. The mysterious, lonely and romantic figure gives room to a lot more than that when artists such as Leda Catunda and
others reveal that he wasn't so self-pitied or almost friendliess as he seemed to reveal. Everyone here has plenty of good things to say about him, a
little about his rebel side, a groundbreaking artist who inspired many others to develop their projects.
The heart-breaking part comes when Leonilson's sister appears to talk about his late concerns (also explored in the other documentary but here we
have more details) and it was the fear of being rejected by his own family. Like many AIDS victims, it was a case where the family would get two revelations
in one, that come out as gay and that he was also dying - a news he wasn't able to give personally to his mom and relatives due to a widely publicized
magazine article/interview of which he felt explored and was ashamed. It crushes me when I see such stories, a difficult reality in the early days of the disease but in
a way he got a better response than he expected.
Since there isn't much information about Leonilson and his life, this is a must-see to get a unique view of whom he was, the connection we can make
between his art and the experiences he lived. His legacy lives on countless works, some can be found on museums in São Paulo while others were bought by
collectors and admirers (gladly, he managed to live from his art); this film, "A Paixão de JL" and the short film "Spray Jet" (1986), made at a more
colorful and vivid part of his life. 10/10.
