Elis Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Elis Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 28, 2024

Elis is a largely ludicrous biographical film about quite possibly the greatest Brasilian vocalist of the 20th century, and a woman who definitely deserves a less "Hollywoodized" version of her short but incredibly dynamic life. Chances are unless you're a fan of mid-century Brasilian music you've probably never heard of Elis Regina, but she burst upon what was then still the ebbing stage of the Bossa Nova movement with her unbelievably visceral rendition of Arrastão, a gorgeous song by Edu Lobo and Vinícius de Moraes, and one which American audiences may (dimly?) recall from its English language version by Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, For Me. In fact lovers of Brasil '66 in particular may at least have a kind of introduction to Elis' formidable discography since Maestro Mendes, always a performer with ears attuned to both the Brasilian and American charts, "remade" any number of Elis' songs with his own group, including such potentially well remembered pieces as Casa Forte, Lapinha and Upa, Neguinho, (all of the preceding on Sergio's epic Fool on the Hill album), among several others.

The biographical data points this film offers are almost like, to purloin an idea from the recording industry itself, a "greatest hits" compilation, though several key "tracks" are just simply omitted. Elis (Andréia Horta) is introduced as a spunky young woman who just pretty much creates a sensation single handedly by more or less forcing herself into the world of Ronaldo Bôscoli (Gustavo Machado), then one of the leading lights behind the Bossa Nova movement, and especially Bottles, the legendary club where so many future stars got their starts. Elis later marries Ronaldo, but only after a bunch of interstitial drama that is handled here in true Douglas Sirk-ian fashion, meaning overheated and just borderline ridiculous. The film ignores Elis' childhood, where she had already established a foothold in Brasil's show business firmament, and also weirdly kind of ignores her actual recording career, focusing instead on things like her mid-sixties television series with Jair Rodriguez and the trials and tribulations she experiences with Ronaldo and, later, César Camargo Mariano (Caco Ciocler).

If the film at least alludes to some of the "personal demons" Elis struggled with, it certainly doesn't do enough to establish the tragic trajectory of her short life, meaning the big finale with an almost ludicrous assortment of men she's had relationships with (not necessarily intimate) reacting tearfully to news of her death as the story draws to its close may actually provoke laughter. Earlier there's more unintended comedy with a silly depiction of Elis getting hassled by the military junta in charge of Brasil. (Those interested are encouraged to check out the lyric of songs like Upa, Neguinho and especially Lapinha to see how deftly writers of that era addressed socioeconomic and outright political issues somewhat discursively so as to not provoke censorship or, worse, jail time.)

If dramatically Elis is the Brasilian equivalent of any number of fanciful Hollywood biographies of musical legends (hey, Cole Porter, of course you're not gay or bi, per Night and Day), the film makes one very smart decision: it features actual Elis renditions as a regular part of its soundtrack, and it also includes a number of absolutely fantastic instrumental cues from the likes of Mariano. Even the newly recorded underscore tends to be spot on in terms of evoking its era(s). If some of the lip syncing isn't practically perfect in every way, Horta nonetheless captures the essence of Elis' sometimes provocative personality with a fair amount of energy.

Elis Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Elis is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Paris Filmes with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. Captured with Arri Alexa cameras and finished with what I'm assuming was a 2K DI, this is a generally very nicely detailed looking presentation. There are some momentary incidences of banding throughout that can be spotted when framings have stage lighting aimed toward the cameras or otherwise providing backlighting for Elis. Otherwise, compression issues are minimal, and the good news is the fine detail tends to be commendable throughout. The palette is very nicely suffused and looks natural, with the possible intentional exception of some Paris material which looks like it's been graded to resemble old Kodachrome home movie stock (see screenshot 5 for an example).

Elis Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Elis features a nicely robust DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in the original Portuguese. While ambient environmental sounds are discernably placed in the side and rear channels in any number of scenes like some of the crowded Bottles material, it's probably the fantastic use of actual Elis songs where the surround track really opens up the soundstage and provides some beautifully immersive moments. There's also some very evocatively spacious newly recorded underscoring that provides a bed of surround activity for several key scenes. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles are available.

Elis Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (HD; 25:56) offers some good behind the scenes footage and interviews. In Portuguese with no English subtitles.


• Making Of Trilha Sonora offers three brief looks at the soundtrack being recorded, with side by side views of the scenes utilizing the score and footage of the actual scoring sessions:

  Praia (HD; 2:17)

  
  

  Militares (HD; 2:16)

  
  

  Final (HD; 2:15)

Elis Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Elis at least occasionally offers some fun information, like when Ronaldo tells Elis to cut her hair like Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby, but at other times just weirdly omits relevant information or seems to up the "snark" factor, as in (in this version) Elis' evident dislike for Bossa Nova chanteuse Nara Leão. That makes the actual film definitely in the hit or miss category, but the soundtrack is something to be celebrated one way or the other. Technical merits are generally solid for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.