The film, however, loses its way as a patchwork quilt by assuming that its audience already knows most of the story
When the documentary O Nome Dela é Gal premiered in 2017, Gal Costa began to receive many offers to make a fictional movie about her life. The idea appealed to the Bahian singer on one condition: she wanted the project to be under the responsibility of the same director, Dandara Ferreira.
Since then, the film has been quietly taking shape with the help of Gal herself: Dandara called Lô Politi (Alvorada) to be her co-director and main screenwriter and Sophie Charlotte was approved by the star to be her version in theaters.
Unfortunately, the singer passed away before she could see the finished film, which will be released this Thursday (12) in Brazilian cinemas. My Name is Gal follows the artist’s life between 1966 and 1971, when she left Bahia at the age of 20 as Maria da Graça and went to Rio de Janeiro to try her luck in music.
The choice to focus on just a few years of Gal Costa’s life is the right one. The film has a clearer objective: to show how she became one of Brazil’s greatest voices and one of the main names in Tropicália at the time. However, the script doesn’t always succeed.
The direction makes good use of the backdrop of the Military Dictatorship at the time to create tension and the necessary motivation for the singer to decide to take an increasingly clear stand. In this context, we are also introduced to other great names in Brazilian music.
Caetano Veloso (newcomer Rodrigo Lellis, in a great characterization) and Gilberto Gil (Dan Ferreira) are a constant presence and there are even two brief appearances by Maria Bethânia (the director, Dandara Ferreira). The names contribute to good moments of nostalgia, but it’s the other characters, not so well known to the general public, who stand out and prove essential to Gal’s life.
Dedé Gadelha (Camila Márdila), Caetano’s girlfriend at the time, has one of the most developed relationships on screen with the protagonist, as does her manager, Guilherme Araújo (Luis Lobianco). Lobianco brings charisma to the role and makes the character one of the most interesting to watch.
Sophie Charlotte joins the combo of great performances and is one of the highlights of the movie, taking on the responsibility firmly. In addition to the careful characterization, she is in the role even when she doesn’t have any lines and needs to show, through her body and posture, Maria da Graça’s more withdrawn manner at the age of 20 and her bold confidence in 1971.
The actress’s voice was also a nice surprise, especially in the moments when she sings a cappella, and the feeling is that it would be much better if she sang throughout the movie. The nostalgia of bringing Gal’s own voice into some scenes in the movie would be thrilling – if it were used well. Here, it’s clear when Sophia is dubbing, not because of the difference in her voice, but because of the lack of synchronicity between her lips and the sound. The back and forth between the two voices also ends up giving the movie a more disjointed tone.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the only confusing part of My Name is Gal. The script assumes from the outset that the viewer already knows the artist’s life and doesn’t bother to explain moments that may seem obvious to fans, but may not be to everyone. It may take ordinary viewers a while to understand how, from one scene to the next, she moved to São Paulo, for example, and the reason for this is not even explained.
The passages of time – marked by a collage of photos from the time with footage of the characters in relaxed moments covered by a filter – end up becoming a big puzzle that you don’t have the whole picture to help you put together. That’s why the ending is even more abrupt. At a tense moment in the narrative, when Gal has to deal directly with the dictatorship’s police, after spending the whole movie with this dilemma, Sophie Charlotte’s image is interrupted.
The final montage with footage of Gal Costa is an emotional farewell to one of Brazil’s greatest singers, but not the film itself. It presents her as a strong, empowered and very talented woman, but fails to create real bonds on screen and delve into introducing her to a generation that may not yet be familiar with her achievements. It’s a movie for fans.