At some point in our lives, we have all been entranced by the genre known as bossa nova – the soothing rhythms intertwining with the lyricism that exists somewhere between philosophically profound and hopelessly romantic, there is a reason the world was utterly taken when this genre emerged out of Brazil and underwent a cultural explosion that is still felt to this very day. However, like any musical movement, it has a storied history, and the people responsible for the genre all have their unique stories that they have passed down throughout the generations. Unfortunately, some of them never lived to be able to reap the fruit of their talents, such as in the case of Francisco Tenório Júnior, who is widely considered to not only be a formative voice in the bossa nova movement, but one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Unfortunately, his legacy has been overshadowed by the way his life presumably ended, since in the late 1970s, he inexplicably went missing, the belief being that he was captured by political militants and imprisoned for his political views, before being executed in one of the many moments of violent political tension that swept through South America during this period. His life has become the subject of They Shot the Piano Player (Spanish: Dispararon al pianista), in which directors Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal weave together a beautiful and poetic animated film in which they set out to solve the mystery of his disappearance through a vaguely fictional lens. A rich and compelling work of both artistic integrity and cultural significance, and driven by a sense of genuine curiosity that could only come from a pair of directors entirely committed to the material, this film is a masterful work that explores many interesting concepts, and ultimately proves to be quite an inspired piece of storytelling that transcends many of the barriers that we normally associate with contemporary cinema and how it looks at particular stories and the people within.

The pairing of Trueba and Mariscal is an inspired one, since it clearly combines the gifts of two profoundly gifted filmmakers that have worked in very different artistic spaces, yet still find themselves united under a common vision. The keen attention to detail of Mariscal’s animation blends together with Trueba’s earnest fascination with history and social commentary, and it creates quite a remarkable film that draws on both artists’ best qualities. The structure of They Shot the Piano Player is certainly quite inventive – a slightly comical account of a fictional journalist travelling between New York City and Rio de Janeiro (as well as several other locations in and around Brazil) to unearth the mystery of Tenório Júnior, whose disappearance has lingered in the minds of everyone who has come into contact with Brazilian music and culture of the 20th century. Therefore, the structure is quite innovative – it is formed as a partially fictional story of the central journalist, who acts as the narrator and audience surrogate, bouncing through the clubs that the subject used to frequent, as well as the homes of his contemporaries, speaking to the people who were major players in this story – and while the framing device is fictional, the interviews are quite real. With many of Brazil’s most notable musical artists and experts lending their contributions through the recollections of both Tenório Júnior’s career and the history of bossa nova and its status as a form of artistic expression within this revolutionary group of musicians. Seamlessly blending documentary and fiction, the directors make quite a unique hybrid of a film, one that leaps between different ideas while still keeping quite a consistent hold on several ideas, each one wonderfully developed and fully-formed to the point where even searching for the seams that divide fact from fiction is nearly impossible. They often say that the best kind of documentary is the one where it feels like a story is being told well, and there are few examples of this more effective than in They Shot the Piano Player, which is inventive, daring and deeply complex.

It is extremely clear from the very start that Trueba and Mariscal were driven by pure ambition when crafting this film – it doesn’t strike us as being something that had a clear structure or direction when it went into production, and that they instead formed the narrative around the comments made by the real-life figures, with the role of the journalist only being there as a thread to connect these recollections into something more than just these statements, which are still fascinating on their own, but needed something to bind them together to emphasize their importance. Under the surface, we find that They Shot the Piano Player takes a two-pronged approach to the storytelling process, looking at two very different subjects that are interwoven together to the point where it is clear that one could not exist without the other. It is certainly relevant to view it as primarily a history of bossa nova, with Tenório Júnior and his musical career being central to these examinations. Music has always been subjected to a lot of compelling discussion, and this film only adds to it by being a thrilling, complex exploration of the social and cultural importance of the medium, and how these artists created truly unforgettable works that have stood the test of time, which is even more significant when you consider the circumstances surrounding their creation. This is where the second aspect of They Shot the Piano Player comes into play, which is the socio-cultural side of the story, particularly in how it presents itself as a concise summary of South American culture about the various changes that were occuring during this notoriously challenging moment in global affairs – there is merit in saying that all art is inherently political, and for these musicians, their efforts were not merely to entertain, but to express themselves and their experiences in an era of immense political tumult – and choosing to focus on one of the most famous casualties of the violence that swept across the continent, the directors don’t have any other choice but to constantly circle back to these more complex elements as they work their way through the story, which form the foundation of the film.

The directors put in the effort to blend them all in a vibrant and unconventional package that is bold and compelling, and pays sufficient tribute to not only the music and the artists behind it, but also the people who were bewitched by this hypnotic music. There is certainly value in viewing They Shot the Piano Player as a film that primarily celebrates the uniting nature of music – after all, this is a story that begins and ends with someone expressing their fondness for the artistry that went into Tenório Júnior’s music, which the film makes sure to emphasize as being the most important part of his story. His legacy should not be defined by his disappearance, even if it is something that lingers quite heavily over any discussion of his life. In many ways, this film exists to counteract that – it cannot avoid the subject (and, indeed, the parts where they do speculate on what happened to Tenório Júnior are quite effective, being deeply haunting and unnerving), but it also doesn’t direct all of its attention to these moments, instead weaving in conversations around his artistry, and the entire music scene at the time, which makes for a layered and complex examination of music as a form of artistic expression and genuinely uniting force. The use of animation was very smart – not only does it allow the directors to seamlessly blend reality and fiction, it also gives the film a dreamlike quality, one that is steeped in reality, but where anything is possible, which is particularly resonant when dealing with a story that is built on blurring the past and the present together into one poignant narrative entity that is equally as focused on what it says as much as how it is said. The structure is very simple, and the emotions are quite authentic, which is important to a film that aims to be a vibrant and captivating exploration of a challenging subject, and credit needs to be given to everyone involved in its creation, especially Jeff Goldblum, who takes on the part of the narrator and gives the film quite a distinct tone – and as an avid jazz pianist himself, we have to imagine that Tenório Júnior’s story would be quite resonant in terms of how he views his artistic ambitions.

In many ways, They Shot the Piano Player is the most appropriate film to tackle the impossibly large subject of Tenório Júnior, in terms of both his artistry and the mysteries surrounding his life – it bounces around like the gorgeous melodies he wrote, and breaks similar boundaries in terms of genre, and feels like it is a genuinely moving work of art that is handcrafted by two filmmakers whose total commitment to this material makes sure to honour their subject with precision and sincerity. It is a wonderful exploration of the world of art as it stood at this particular moment – the film shows how bossa nova was heavily influenced by movements such as West Coast jazz and the French New Wave (it even borrows the title of François Truffaut’s enigmatic masterpiece Shoot the Piano Player), and demonstrates how different kinds of art inform each other, sometimes in quite unexpected ways, and how these connections, while sometimes tenuous, are always quite captivating and proves that many artists draw inspiration from the most unlikely of sources. Bold and daring in ways that are often quite surprising, and genuinely quite moving in how it explores a subject that may seem simple on the surface but proves to be incredibly layered, They Shot the Piano Player is an incredible film. The two directors work well together and spend their time developing quite a remarkable piece of filmmaking, one that combines fact and fiction in intriguing ways, offering the audience a multilayered and storied portrait of a fantastic artist and the movement that he helped consolidate to have historical significance. Beautiful animation combined with strong storytelling all help in making They Shot the Piano Player quite an extraordinary film, and a truly moving work that blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction and offers us fascinating new insights into the narrative process.