Cazuza: Time Doesn't Stop

***** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS *******

If you're not Brazil and have never lived here, you probably don't know Cazuza. But Brazilian people and lucky ones who lived in this country in the 1980's know this great composer and singer. In 1981 he begun his career as the singer of Barão Vermelho, that soon became one of the most popular Brazilian rock bands. With great heats playing on TV and radio, Cazuza and his band got fans all over the country. In 1985 he decided he wouldn't keep on playing with his mates and kicked out a solo career, that took five years. Cazuza had more success due to his talent and courage to sing everything he wanted. Unfortunately, he also kept on using drugs and with dangerous free sex habits. As a consequence, he got AIDS. Even after the discovery of this terrible disease, he kept on singing and showing no fear of showing the whole country the effects of AIDS. In 1990 he died. This is the story everybody (in Brazil at least) knows. This is what we saw on TV news, magazines and newspapers. The film shows it all in a beautiful, but at the same time strong, way. Daniel Oliveira plays the protagonist in a great way, and physically he really looks like Cazuza. Marieta Severo and Reginaldo Faria, two of the best Brazilian actors, play Cazuza's parents, who never left him alone. Walter Carvalho and Sandra Werneck direct this movie in a remarkably way. Cameras are never totally stopped. There's always some kind of movement, as if the cameramen had the cameras on their shoulders all the time. This gives a flavour of movement, that makes some kind of tense atmosphere.

My Rate 8/10

Cazuza is the name of one of the most incredible singers in Brazil,he begun in the 80s with his band called Barao Vermelho,after the great success of the band he decided to start a solo career,but his future was drastically destroyed by his death in 1991 of AIDS.But actually nothing could stop Cazuza because he still inspire people in Brazil,so in some way he remains alive in all of us.

The movie is incredible and a real masterpiece.Daniel de Olivera plays the singer and gives a performance that makes you be astonished by his talent.No one on earth could play Cazuza as Daniel played!The way he speaks,he acts,it's almost creepy!He is Cazuza you are going to be quite impressed!

Everything in his story is poetic, his music sometimes in the movie speaks for itself, and the beauty of his musics makes us sad and happy in the same time.Na explosion of feelings is what you feel,marvelous feeling.The time doesn't stop but Cazuza made it stop.And he could do whatever he wanted!Viva Cazuza!

This film cannot be seen as a good piece of film as it is. Out of context, it has no special meaning besides the point it constantly tries to make of the clichés we have heard over and over again. That is, gay men taking drugs, having sex with everyone they see and being self-destructive. As it usually happens with Brazilian cinema, this movie doesn't try to break away from the national social basis and only repeats all the beliefs the citizens and foreigners have of the country and its own people. A very sad thing to do, a very bad message to pass. I watched this film remembering my mother telling me how horrible it is when people start smoking joints and end up dying of aids for sharing needles and being promiscuous. That's what everyone goes around saying in Brazil, in sensationalist terms, and this is how this film is presented. It is a true pity that such a good composer and singer had to be pictured in such horrible colours. And worst still that Brazil hasn't learnt how to do something new that will challenge the people to expand their way of thinking into new areas.

How can we know if this was a superficial picture of Cazuza? Could we ever separate the man from the myth? The movie did show him as being a spoiled kid, self destructive and with no boundaries and at the same time, his passion and ability to make poetry out of anything - politics, love, relationships and even his imminent encounter with death. For whoever expected the movie to be a political statement, I understand the disappointment. The movie focused on his legacy (probably what he'd proud of the most): his music. Excellent work from main actor Daniel de Oliveira impersonating Cazuza - especially towards the end, it was amazing, very touching. I liked the way it ended, not falling for an easy soap opera melodrama.

I'd recommend it - great movie.

I was very interested in watching Cazuza. His story is well-known by most of the Brazilians that lived during the 80s rock moment. But Cazuza himself was not really explained in the movie. It was based in the book of Lucinha Araujo, Cazuza's mother, and it seems that she tried to convince herself and the others that she was a good mother and he was a good son. If you are a parent, you can take you own conclusion about this. All the self-destructive behavior of Cazuza doesn't fix in this scenario.From where it came from? For his rebellion with the homophobic world? Or it was a consequence of the inexistence of limits or punishments in a high-class Brazilian family? For who knows the story, the movie looks like a poor documentary. If Cazuza is considered the real Brazilian poet of the 80s, he deserved a better explanation.