This documentary tells about the "Sundays of Creation", a series of cultural happenings created by art critic Frederico Morais, at the time he was director of MAM (Museu de Arte Moderna, or Museum of Modern Art) in Rio de Janeiro (during the military dictatorship).
The film follows the classic format of documentary: interviews with people involved in the case, interspersed with old images. Moreover, if the shape is classic, it is for a simple reason: it works, and very well. However, what makes this particular documentary so special and I would even say spectacular, are two things: the verve of the main character, and the old images (about them, I speak later).
Frederico Morais is considered a great innovator in the criticism of art from Brazil. Born in very poor family, had to work several jobs to survive. However, the job was in a library that changed his life. At 15, still studying in high school, he wrote his first critical text, called "In defense of modern art". Wrote for newspapers "Diário de Notícias" ("Daily News") and "O Globo" ("The Globe"). The text of him is wonderful: extremely informative, easy to read, and poetic (sometimes outraged).
The same verve he displays in an interview for the film. What we have is a parade of original and profound thoughts on the plastic arts in Brazil and about the process of making art and also make art criticism. In this, he is aided by well-aimed testimonials from artists like Amir Haddad, Carlos Vergara and others. One of the spectacular observations it is often about the inadequacy of using the text to criticize plastic art, which is something that often has no words. That's why he, at various times, used other media in the critical process. He does this not to become an artist, but composes a work of art that is also to engage with the work object of his criticism. Some audiovisual he created in this process are in the film: photo collages with images and songs of Milton Nascimento, Gonzaguinha and Villa-Lobos.
Then we got to the "crème de la crème" of the film: the old images. The "Sundays of Creation" (the Sunday of paper, the Sunday of tissue etc.) were unbelievable things: a crowd of people gathering to make art or to play to make art (which at the bottom is the same thing). I cannot imagine a similar situation today. The photos of the period are not very well preserved (with many spots), but they're beautiful. Already the images (which I think are Super-8) are fairly well preserved and ask you to cry, literally (I cried several times watching the images of the encounters).
This movie gave me an irresistible desire to know better the Rio de Janeiro (a city that practically I have never been), and especially to know the Museum of Modern Art. I.e., the film inspired me, captivated me and brought me some happiness, which incidentally, is the reason for the art of cinema, plastic arts and of any art.
Note 10/10. The best Brazilian documentary I've ever seen.
