Question.
Could you tell me what kind of music Chorinho is? Where and
how was it born? Is it music of all Brazilians or is it practised
in smaller circles only?
MK:
First of all, I'd like to make a distinction between Choro
and Chorinho. My film is about Choro, and Chorinho is just
one aspect of Choro. Choro was born in the middle of the 19th
century when the musicians in Rio started to mix European
melodies and music styles like waltz and polka with Afro-Brazilian
and native rhythms. In the beginning Choro was more "a
way of playing" than a music style, then it developed
and became the dominating music style in whole Brazil, until
samba took over. Choro was forgotten but it never died, it
stayed alive through the musicians that kept playing it in
"Rodas de Choro", jam sessions, at homes and bars.
People started calling this traditional Choro "Chorinho".
Today, it has made a comeback. It keeps developing and it's
called Choro again, it has become again more a way to play,
it's quite flexible and broad, combining traditional Chorinho
with elements of classic musical and even jazz. And my film
is about Choro, not Chorinho.
The
capital of Choro is definitely Rio de Janeiro, but Choro is
played all over Brazil, other especially active Choro cities
are places like the capital Brasilia, Sao Paulo, Salvador
and Recife. Today, Choro is going strong; the younger generation
has discovered Choro again.
Question. When and how did you get the idea for the film?
Can you remember when you heard Choro for the first time?
MK:
I had made another documentary about Brazilian music, "Moro
no Brasil" before this one. It happened that I was in
Lausanne, Switzerland, I think it was in May 2003 at the Swiss
premiere of "Moro no Brasil" and, after the film,
there was this Q&A session. One gentleman - obviously
a Choro fan - asked me why I didn't have Choro in my film.
I tried to explain that there is so much music in Brazil that
it was impossible to include everything in one film. I said
that I liked Choro very much, but "Moro no Brasil"
was more about samba and that Choro deserved a film of its
own. The gentleman said that he'd produce that film. And that
was what actually happened; Marco Forster, who had never produced
a film before, kept his word and we started to develop the
film.
Of course, I had heard a lot of Choro over the years I had
been living in Brazil and I even did some research on it when
planning and preparing "Moro no Brasil". But funnily,
the first time I ever heard Choro was in Finland when I was
a little boy in the late 50's. It was "Tico-tico no Fubá",
I still remember, when it played in the radio in the Sunday
afternoons. Of course, I didn't know back then that this music
was called Choro and obviously couldn't imagine that I would
make a film about Choro one day. I couldn't even imagine that
I would make films.
Question. What do you like about Choro? Do you play some
instrument yourself? Perhaps you even play Choro?
MK:
The fascinating thing about Choro is its flexibility, how
it changes and develops depending on the ensemble and musicians
playing it. It fits any occasion; it can be played alone or
by a big band, in a concert, in a jam session, it can be listened
or danced to, it's very social music. I like its playfulness
and I'm fascinated by the virtuosity of the Choro musicians.
Choro is definitely much easier to listen to than to play.
I don't play anything myself, except occasionally some drums
after a few (too many) drinks, but I wouldn't definitely ever
dare to play Choro, I wouldn't like to be embarrassed.
Question. How did you find the musicians for the film?
MK:
The screenplay, or better, the concept was developed together
with Marco Forster and in collaboration with the musical supervisor
Marcello Gonçalves. We tried to make a representative
selection of musicians and different aspects of Choro, trying
to show its versatility. I knew many of the musicians before,
like Paulo Moura, Yamandu, Trio Madeira Brasil, Zé
da Velha, Silverio Pontes, Marcos Suzano, Beto Gazes, Jovi
etc.; in fact, many of them also play samba and other Brazilian
music, many of them also performed in my music club that I
had in Rio some years ago. Marcello suggested some musicians
with whom I was less familiar and Marco brought in some musicians
from Bahia. The selection is always hard to do because you
know that there are always many other musicians that you'd
like to have onboard, but, due the limitations of the 90 minutes
of one film, it's impossible.
Question. Who produced the film? How did you find each
other? How was it to work together?
MK:
"Brasilerinho" is a Finnish-Swiss-Brazilian co-production.
I already told you how I met Marco Forster in the screening
of "Moro no Brasil" in Switzerland. The third partner
is Bruno Stroppiana, an (Italian) producer who has been living
in Rio de Janeiro for a long time. I had worked with Bruno
many times before, starting from "Helsinki Napoli All
Night Long" which his company distributed in Brazil -
in fact, it was the reason I went to Brazil for the first
time in 1988 - after that, he was involved in the production
of the "Amazon", "Tigrero - The Film That Was
Never Made" and "Sambolico". I introduced Bruno
to Marco and the chemistry worked; the co-production and collaboration
between the three of us was a delight compared to some other
experiences I've had in this business and in spite of all
the usual problems and difficulties one encounters when producing
a film. Marco was the delegate producer, having the overall
control of the venture, and Bruno was in charge of the production
in Rio, whereas I tried to be helpful in different areas where
Marco still didn't have the experience, like introducing investors
and other professionals. We all were responsible for the financing
of the film.
Question. How did the shooting of the film go? Where did
you shoot it? How was it to plan the film, e.g., to decide
who to interview, which musicians to choose and where to shoot?
MK: The shooting period was pretty fast, three weeks and we
shot everything in Rio. We tried to prepare everything as
well as possible because we knew that the shooting schedule
would be very tight and most of the scenes would be unique,
impossible to be re-produced and re-shot within our budget
frame. I was lucky to work with people that I've worked with
before, especially with my director of photography Jacques
Cheuiche; it made everything much easier.
The
film is, in fact, in spite of being a "documentary",
mostly staged, most of the situations and scenes, for example,
the main concert, the Choro ferry, etc. were produced for
the film. But even if they were staged, they were at the same
time 'documentary', e.g., the main concert was a public event
and the audience was a normal paying audience. And the interviews,
of course, are 'documentary', real, not pre-written.
My
idea was to try to tell about Choro through the people who
play Choro, who live from and for it. I gave emphasis to some
of the main instruments in Choro, like 7-string guitar, mandolin,
brass, tambourine, cavaquinho etc., but also wanted to show
that Choro is not only instrumental but can be sung and danced,
too. This very much influenced the choice of people and the
storyline. I started from a few individuals, instruments,
trying to demonstrate how Choro works within different ensembles
and situations. Towards the end of the film, the ensembles
become bigger and the musical brotherhood grows involving
the audience in the film and, hopefully, the audience watching
the film, too.
I
wanted the locations in the film to be realistic, true to
the people and Choro. So, I shot in people's homes, bars and
spots that are important for Choro today and in the past.
We
shot the film mostly with two cameras, except the main concert
where we used four cameras. What made the shooting somewhat
complicated was the recording of the sound. As we wanted the
best possible sound, we recorded all the music with a 24-track
system, which means we had a moving sound studio with us most
of the time. It cost time and nerves, but it definitely paid
off in the end.
Question. How was it to edit the film? I remember you
telling me that you shot a lot of material this time as well?
MK:
Yes, we shot quite a lot of material, 60 hours or so, but
I was lucky to have the same editor as in "Moro no Brasil",
Karen Harley, with whom, I think, we make a good team. She
can administrate the material very well and get the essence
out of it. What helped here was that the structure was quite
clear from the beginning, but, of course, it's always hard
to make the selection, you always have to leave so many things
out of the film, even scenes that you like. But that's the
way it is, you have to be both tender and brutal with your
material.
Question. Were there any surprises during the making of
this film? Did you learn something new? Was the making of
this film somehow different from the films you have made before?
MK:
Every film is full of surprises no matter how well you think
you are prepared. Making a "documentary" requires
patience; as a filmmaker, you're an observer, not the center
of attention, and what I like in documentaries is that you,
as a filmmaker and a human being, learn from the people and
situations you observe. In this film I learnt a lot, not only
about Choro but music in general and the way of Brazilian
life. And about life in general, which, I suppose, is the
reason I make films anyway.
The
shooting itself wasn't too complicated, and it was short,
too, compared to a normal feature film or compared to "Moro
no Brasil" which took me a couple of years to make. I'd
say that this film was born under the lucky stars, it went
mostly smoothly from the beginning until the end, which, I
guess, is quite different from some of my other films.
Question. Do you already know where you will make your
next film and what will it be about?
MK:
I have a couple of things in development, I want to keep making
both fiction and documentaries. And I want to make two more
music films, one about jazz and another about the Finnish
tango, which is a project that has been in my mind for a long
time. But, at the same time, I'm developing a couple of fiction
films, too, and if everything goes well, I might make a small
Finnish film next year, shot in Finland in Finnish language,
which is something that I haven't done since 1991.
Question. How do you feel now that "Brasilerinho"
will be shown in the Berlinale? What does it mean for you
and your film?
MK:
I always thought that the Forum of the Berlinale would be
the perfect place to have the world premiere of "Brasilerinho",
and I'm extremely happy that the film was invited. I believe
it will have the best possible start for its international
career there. I have a long and nice history with Forum, I
think it's still the most interesting section of the Berlinale,
especially for a documentary, even if I don't know if my film
is a pure documentary.
