Bingo is a film 'à clef', where real life characters and brands have names changed to avoid legal issues: Bingo is the American clown franchise Bozo, TV Mundial stands for the powerful Brazilian network Globo, TVP is its rival TVS (now SBT), Lulu is the children's show host Xuxa. The real name of main character Augusto Mendes, Arlindo Barreto, is revealed at the end. Singer and dancer Gretchen is the only keeping her real life counterpart's name.
Brazil's submission to the Foreign Language Film Award of the 90th Annual Academy Awards.
Largely based on the real story of Arlindo Barreto, who played Bozo, The Clown, in Brazil during the early 80s.
Last film appearance Domingos Montagner who plays the clown Aparício, Bingo's guru. Montagner himself started his career as a clown in a circus company.
Singer Gretchen, one of Augusto's girlfriends, is a real and very popular figure in Brazil since the late 1970s. In 2017, thanks to the worldwide success of her memes, she was invited to star Katy Perry's video clip Katy Perry Feat. Nicki Minaj: Swish Swish (Lyric Version) (2017).