On March 1, Sony Pictures Classics is expanding the U.S. theatrical release of They Shot the Piano Player, the TIFF, Telluride and AFI Fest-selected animated feature from Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba (Chico & Rita). Laced with color and music, the 103-minute film centers on the true, tragic story of a promising Bossa Nova musician silenced by dangerous political times. The film opened in New York City and Los Angeles last week.
They Shot the Piano Player expands to Encino, San Francisco and Santa Monica, California; Aventura and Coral Gables, Florida; Chicago, Illinois; and a new NYC venue this Friday. Additional market debuts over the next several weeks include San Diego, Scottsdale, Washington DC, Denver, Minneapolis, Dallas, Cleveland, Atlanta, Albuquerque, Boise, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Memphis, Nashville, Fort Worth and Kansas City, among many others.
Synopsis: A New York music journalist goes on a quest to uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of young Brazilian piano virtuoso Tenorio Jr. A celebratory origin story of the world-renowned Latino musical movement Bossa Nova, They Shot The Piano Player captures a fleeting time bursting with creative freedom at a turning point in Latin American history in the 60s and 70s, just before the continent was engulfed by totalitarian regimes.
Directed by Mariscal and Trueba from a screenplay by Trueba, the film stars Jeff Goldblum, composer/activist Caetano Veloso and Bossa Nova legend João Gilberto, who passed away in 2019.
Rating a 69% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes (29 critics’ reviews) and a stellar 100% audience score, this film is lauded for its a moving portrayal of a fascinating true story and its distinctive visual approach. However, Trueba’s deep commitment to exploring every corner of the story and sometimes frenetically detailed animated sequences lead to some points deducted:
“Rough and ready, the animation has a jazzy style throughout, emphasizing color palette over smoothness or precision. Slabs of color, escaping their outlines, clash against each other with the stridency of cymbals or the jagged interplay of forms in a Stuart Davis painting.”
— William Repass, Slant
“Throughout They Shot the Piano Player, it’s the layer of abstraction that the art of animation provides, a process at once distancing and infused with care and affection, that gives this telling of Tenório Júnior’s story its pulse. You can celebrate the intoxicating lilt of the bossa nova and also peer into the devastating brutality of state terrorism. The transitions won’t always be smooth, but why should they be?”
— Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter
“One of the movie’s best scenes is a re-creation of the 1964 recording session that ended up being the only one Tenório ever did as a band leader, as opposed to a sideman to more famous names. Watching what Mariscal and Trueba have done to turn that extended instrumental jam into a piece of real musical cinema, full of garish-yet-cool yellows and blues, you might wish they would do an entire film of nothing but animated jazz sequences.”
— Chris Willman, Variety
“The one thing you can’t accuse They Shot the Piano Player of is talking down to its audience. Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal’s animated documentary about the 1976 disappearance of pianist Francisco Tenorio Jr. demands your absolute attention with its encyclopedic index of talking heads, and pretty much requires you to have substantial existing knowledge of bossa nova and the South American geopolitics of the 1960s and ’70s. Woe to those who do not.”
— Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire
Release schedule with participating cinemas and ticketing available at tickets.theyshotthepianoplayerfilm.com.