Garrincha: Estrela Solitaria

2010 release. Garrincha is a true Brazilian legend, one of the all-time great footballers, revered to this day. Focusing on his zenith, from 1953-1962 - during which time he twice inspired Brazil to World Cup glory - this soundtrack is suitably of the period. With beautiful Ipanemas-esque soulful samba sitting alongside carnival batucada, darker cinematic experimentalism, and playful jazz funk, this collection of Leo Gandelman scores mirrors and celebrates Garrincha's amazingly fast paced life; at times glorious, at others a car crash. This original soundtrack to Estrela Solitaria (2003) was directed, produced and in most cases composed by Leo Gandelman. Estrela Solitaria flashes between Garrincha as extravagant and triumphant footballer and his decent towards ruin. In the late '50s and early '60s, Garrincha was the most famous man in Brazil, dating and then marrying samba star Elza Soares while leading Brazil and Botofogo to glory on the pitch. The old school samba songs split the soundtrack, ("Samba Fantastico", "Samba Authentico", "Samba Latino", "Apito No Samba") perfectly stirring up the carefree side of Garrincha's life and a deeply atmospheric and timeless Rio. Performed by the Brazilian Saxambistas and in the vein of the Ipanemas, this is Latin music at it's most evocative. The rest of the soundtrack was composed especially for Estrela Solitaria by Gandelman who has captured Garrincha's personality on and off the pitch perfectly: Garrincha is Gandelman's most impressive and significant work. This collection moves from quirky jazz funk as Garrincha darts around bemused players with his unique dribbling style, in glorious original black and white footage, ("Football Color", "Retirada Da Urca", "Drible de Cadeira", 'Dops'), in to heavy batucada samba ("Escola", "Bloca de Rua") beats of carnival (Garrincha, like many ex-footballers, was paraded as a carnival attraction; the exploitation of a sporting hero heartbreakingly depicted in the film). It's the dark, almost psychedelic jazz (encapsulated by "Decadente Psicodelico"), which depicts Garrincha's decent in to alcoholism and the money and health problems, which plagued the end of his life (Garrincha died aged just 50). Estrela Solitaria ends with "Abertura", remembering Garrincha, as Brazil does, in his glorious prime.