Miguel Faria Jr.'s 2 hour documentary on the life of Vinicius de Morais is a fascinating tale of one man who changed Brazilian culture. Vinicius was a true artist and bohemian with all of it's trappings. If you are into Brazilian music then you are into Vinicius whether you know it or not.

Firmly rooted in the tradition of music bios, but with such a unique subject it transcends the genre, veteran Miguel Faria Jr.'s salute to the great Brazilian composer Vinicius de Moraes (1913-1980) is something more than a listing of triumphs pre- and post- "The Girl from Ipanema." The pantheon of Brazilian music, from Caetano Veloso to Chico Buarque and Gilberto Gil, parade through a carnival of sassy, innovative tunes that have become evergreens, recounting stories about Vinicius as musician, poet, diplomat and lover of nine wives. This rich-looking production, which seems made for ancillary, should sing a lucrative song.

Spending, drinking and marrying wife after wife, Vinicius wrote plays, poems and the music and lyrics to 400 ground-breaking songs, all the while carrying on a diplomatic career until kicked out by the dictatorship in 1969. Working alongside Antonio Carlos Jobim and Joao Gilberto, he created the Bossa Nova; later he paired with Toquinho, Tom Jobim and other lights. Personal commentary is heard from his daughter and film's producer, Susana de Moraes. Actors Camila Morgado and Ricardo Blat provide a pretty frame, reciting Vinicius' poetry (he published 12 books of it). Source

Essential recordings to get you started, these are ALL desert island picks (all the music files are Windows Media VBR Format - 64 kbps):

Chega de Saudade from The Legendary João Gilberto

Portuguese:
Vai minha tristeza
E diz a ela que
Sem ela não pode ser
Diz-lhe numa prece
Que ela regresse
Porque eu não posso mais sofrer

Chega de saudade
A realidade é que sem ela
Não há paz não há beleza
É só tristeza e a melancolia
Que não sai de mim
Não sai de mim
Não sai
Mas se ela volta
Se ela volta
Que coisa linda
Que coisa louca
Pois há menos peixinhos
A nadar no mar
Do que os beijinhos
Que eu darei na sua boca
Dentro dos meus braços os abraços
Hão de ser milhões de abraços
Apertado assim, colado assim, calado assim,
Abraços e beijinhos e carinhos
Sem ter fim
Que é pra acabar com esse negócio
De viver longe de mim
Não quero mais esse negócio
De você viver assim
Vamos deixar desse negócio
De você viver sem mim

English:
Go, my sadness
And tell her that
Without her it cannot be.
Tell her in a prayer
To return to me,
For I can't suffer anymore.
No more longing,
The truth is that without her
There's no peace, there's no
beauty,
There's only sadness and
melancholy,
That doesn't leave me,
Doesn't leave me,
Doesn't leave,
But if she returns,
If she returns,
What a beautiful thing
What a crazy thing,
For there are fewer fishes
Swimming in the sea
Than the kisses
That I'll plant on her mouth,
In my arms the
embraces,
There'll have to be millions of
embraces,
Tight like this, stuck like this,
Quiet like this,
Embraces and kisses and caresses
Without end.
It's time to end that
business
Of living away from me,
I no longer want that business
Of your living like this,
Let's stop this business
Of your living without me

The Girl from Ipanema from Getz/Gilberto

Portuguese:
Olha que coisa mais linda,
mais cheia de graça
É ela menina
que vem que passa
Num doce balanço
caminho do mar

Moça do corpo dourado
do sol de Ipanema
O seu balançado
é mais que um poema
É a coisa mais linda
que eu já vi passar

Ah, porque estou tão sozinho
Ah, porque tudo e tão triste
Ah, a beleza que existe
A beleza que não é só minha
que também passa sozinha

Ah, se ela soubesse
que quando ela passa
O mundo sorrindo
se enche de graça
E fica mais lindo
por causa do amor

English:
Look at this thing, most lovely
most graceful
It's her, the girl
that comes, that passes
with a sweet swinging
walking to the sea

Girl of the golden body
from the sun of Ipanema
Your swaying
is more than a poem
It's a thing more beautiful
than I have ever seen pass by

Ah, why am I so alone
Ah, why is everthing so sad
The beauty that exists
The beauty that is not mine alone
that also passes by on its own

Ah, if she only knew
that when she passes
the world smiles
fills itself with grace
and remains more beautiful
because of love

Canto de Ossanha from Os Afro-Sambas De Baden E Vinicius

Portuguese:
O homem que diz "dou" não dá
Porque quem dá mesmo não diz
O homem que diz "vou" não vai
Porque quando foi já não quis
O homem que diz "sou" não é
Porque quem é mesmo é "não sou"
O homem que diz "tô" não tá
Porque ninguém tá quando quer
Coitado do homem que cai
No canto de Ossanha, traidor
Coitado do homem que vai
Atrás de mandinga de amor

Vai, vai, vai, vai, não vou
Vai, vai, vai, vai, não vou
Vai, vai, vai, vai, não vou
Vai, vai, vai, vai, não vou
Que eu não sou ninguém de ir
Em conversa de esquecer
A tristeza de um amor que passou
Não, eu só vou se for pra ver
Uma estrela aparecer
Na manhã de um novo amor

Amigo sinhô Saravá
Xangô me mandou lhe dizer
Se é canto de Ossanha, não va
Que muito vai se arrepender
Pergunte pro seu Orixá
O amor só é bom se doer
Pergunte pro seu Orixá
O amor só é bom se doer

Vai, vai, vai, vai, amar
Vai, vai, vai, sofrer
Vai, vai, vai, vai, chorar
Vai, vai, vai, dizer
Que eu não sou ninguém de ir
Em conversa de esquecer
A tristeza de um amor que passou
Não, eu só vou se for pra ver
Uma estrela aparecer
Na manhã de um novo amor

English:
The man who says "I'll give" won't give
For he who truly gives never tells
The man who says "I'll go" won't go
For when he went it was unwillingly
The man who says "I am" is not
For he who truly is, is "I'm not"
The man who says "I'm here" is not
For no one is when they want
Pity the man who falls
For the song of Ossanha, the treacherous
Pity the man who seeks
A magic spell for love.

Go, go, go, I won't go
Go, go, go, I won't go
Go, go, go, I won't go
Go, go, go, I won't go
Because I'm not the type who believes
In this talk of forgetting
The sadness of a lost love
No, I'll only go if it's to see
A shining star appear
In the dawning of a new love

Greetings, my friend
Xangô told me to tell you
That if it's Ossanha's song, don't go
Or you'll be very sorry
Just ask your Orixá
Love is only good if it hurts
Just ask your Orixá
Love is only good if it hurts

You will, you will, you will love
You will, you will, you will suffer
You will, you will, you will cry
You will, you will, you will say
That I'm not the type who believes
In this talk of forgetting
The sadness of a lost love
No, I'll only go if it's to see
A shining star appear
In the dawning of a new love.

WOMAN RECIPE

...Let the woman be, to begin with, tall, or, being short, have the mental
disposition of high summits.
Ah, the woman should always give the impression that, if one close the eyes
and open them, she will vanish, her schemes and smiles.
She should not approach, she should appear, leave, not go, and should have a
certain capacity for suddenly growing silent, of making us drink the bile of
suspicion.
Oh, and above all she should never lose, no matter the world, no matter
under what circumstances, her talky, birdlike changeability, and when
touched deep within herself become wild, not losing the bird's grace; and
should exhale always the impossible perfume; and always distill honey that
gets you drunk; and sing always the voiceless song of her tumult; and always
be the eternal dancer of the short-lived day; and in her countless
imperfection become the most beautiful, most perfect thing in all
innumerable creation.

By Vinícius de Morais

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