"A Night in 67" offers a summarized and curious view of the Brazilian Popular Music Fesitval of 1967, bringing back many
performers or people involved with the iconic festival in its third edition (and the most memorable as well), made an aggitated
cultural and political period of Brazil. The documentary made by Ricardo Calil and Renato Terra is okay, despite a bland treatment,
almost lifeless at times due to a lack of wider context and wider comparison between the previous and later editions of the same
music festival during the decade. The audiences who haven't live that era (like myself) will remain curious into knowing why this
event was that important, and why the others weren't so successful.
A few remarkable points we are told about the festival legacy are the introduction of electric guitars use by part of some of
the artists, which later caused a major riot among the audience as many people in the audience thought the instrument was considered
a betrayal of what constitutes the Brazilian music, and by using those guitars would be to appeal to American influences of rock n'roll,
a growing genre in the nation; also comes the Tropicália foundations established by Gilberto Gil and his memorable performance of
"Domingo no Parque"; the sound apparatus developed by Zuza Homem de Mello by putting microphones near the audience to register both
excitment and the loud boos from the crowd; and the countless behind the scenes stories that made it something special to be remembered and we have a great
and fun opportunity to follow Gil, Chico Buarque, Roberto Carlos, Nelson Motta, Caetano Veloso, Sérgio Ricardo and many others with
gleam in their eyes, smiles on their faces, sharing many stories and being surprised by curious things they didn't know back then;
and some of the artists take a look back to admire with nostalgia how that event changed their lives in future decades.
The interviews are all fun to watch when they don't lose itself with ramblings; and what makes audiences to fully invest their
hearts and minds into it are the countless archive images from the festival, conducted on TV Record, which shows 1967 interviews and
some of the musical performances - being the highlight Sérgio Ricardo smashing his guitar after being booed off stage when he decided
to change the arrangements of his song which upset the audience. He kept cool, smiling and controling himself the best he could, but
an unavoidable meltdown took over him (with reason!) and the rest is history.
Calil and Terra try hard to entice the thrills and drama of it all, as unfamiliar audiences keep watching the performances and trying
to figure out which song will be the winner of the festival - and it was a huge deal to win, both the applause from the crowd and the jurors
selecting the best song. The problem goes that we don't see the festival as a whole, with the countless songs that were left out during
the competition (which lasted a couple of months), and the winner is shown right in the very first scene of the movie. This editorial
choice wasn't effective as by the time we reach the end of it all, see the performance of the winning song again, the only thing is left
are the explanations of why that particular song was so liked by critics and audiences.
With a longer exposition of everything, I'd probably enjoy it a lot more than I did and I'd remember it more fondly too. It's okay
and acceptable, and it gets a thumbs up from me. 6/10.
