‘They Shot The Piano Player’ Review – Animated Documentary Investigates The Life And Death Of Singular Bossa Nova Pianist [TIFF 2023]

In 2021, Flee became the first animated documentary to be nominated for Oscars in both animation and documentary categories. Though director Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s sobering biographical drama was far from the first animated documentary to receive widespread recognition, it served as a powerful reminder that animation and documentary are not genres, rather mediums that can be blended. They Shot The Piano Player feels like the film’s distant successor, far different in scope and focus but similarly interested in using expressive, hand-drawn animation to give new life to history and memory. Whereas Flee used animation to keep its subject anonymous, Chico and Rita duo Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba use it to bring their subject into the light.

That subject is Tenório Júnior, a renowned Brazilian pianist in the ‘60s and ‘70s who, overnight, mysteriously disappeared and was presumed dead. Years later, 2009, music journalist Jeff Harris (voiced by Jeff Goldblum) is writing a book on the rise of bossa nova and hears one of Tenório’s piano solos but has never heard his name. He begins to investigate his work and, more specifically, his death, which brings him to Rio de Janeiro and face-to-face with several of Tenório’s family members, bandmates, and admirers. The untold rabbit hole is so consuming that Harris decides to write his book specifically about the late musician, doing his best to enshrine Tenório’s legacy in a world that has forgotten him.

The film’s story is framed around Harris sharing his journey with an audience at an event for the book, from which the film’s title borrows, but these narrative elements are all fictional. What is not fictional are many of the interviews featured in the film, recorded testimonials that are rendered in Mariscal’s signature rotoscoping. From Latin jazz legends like João Gilberto and Paulo Moura to Tenório’s own surviving friends and family, the film’s narrative trappings quickly give way to extended segments of recollection, beautiful memories of a man who was universally adored for his singular talent and affable personality.

The film shines during these segments, in which vivid colors and thick line work capture the bold and vivacious music that populates the film’s appropriately incredible soundtrack. The art style is certainly less flashy than other animated offerings this year, and the low-frame rate movement could have used the fluidity of Chico and Rita, but the animation’s abstraction makes emotional moments more resonant. More is said in the eyes of some characters in this film than could ever be accomplished with words, especially watching Tenório himself. The bossa icon is presented earnestly but without too much creative license, which gives a figure with no interviews and but few reference photos a lot of cinematic mileage.

However, as the film rinses and repeats light story progression with extensive interviews, the film’s novelty becomes tired to the point that the Harris’ role feels superfluous. Having a surrogate narrator guide us through the story makes sense on paper, but the character and his travels present no intrigue, simply a way to fill in arbitrary blanks and get us from point A to B. It also doesn’t help that Goldblum’s singular vocal tonality completely overwhelms and distracts from his comparatively paper-thin character. These are the repercussions of stunt casting a singular talent as a blank slate.

It all becomes so disposable that you wonder why the film isn’t simply a full-on documentary. It is then that the film transitions its focus to South America’s political upheaval and its surprising ties to Tenório’s death. It goes beyond a history lesson to the point of foundational context, though the film maintains Tenório was apolitical. In its attempts to highlight the victims of these violent atrocities, the film loses sight of what was originally exciting about the story – the man and his music. This isn’t to say the history isn’t vital, but the film goes to such lengths in reconstructing Tenório’s involvement only for it to not feel as conclusive as it is presented.

Though the film’s novelty becomes flattened, They Shot The Piano Player is still a fascinating experiment with documentary form and another beautifully animated effort from Mariscal and Trueba. For bossa nova fans, it’s a must see, but it’s unclear if the film’s immersion into that world will be enough to win over those who are looking for something with more compelling storytelling. However, either side will be glad they were introduced to Tenório Júnior, a poet with a piano whose music and spirit, thoroughly pervading the film, will now forever live on.

They Shot The Piano Player held its Canadian Premiere as part of the Centrepiece section at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. It is set to be released on a date to be announced, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Directors: Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba

Rated: NR

Runtime: 103m

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaY6Wj54Mlw?si=Tayh-JuETDZ8Enxc]