Variações: Guardian Angel (2019)

A biopic about António Variações, a famous Portuguese pop rock singer from the 80s who died from AIDS-related complications in 1984.

Director:

João Maia

Writers:

João Maia, Karen Sztajnberg (screenwriter) (co-writer)

Stars:

Sérgio Praia, Filipe Duarte, Victoria Guerra

22 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sérgio Praia	...	António Variações
Filipe Duarte	...	Fernando Ataíde
Victoria Guerra	...	Rosa Maria
Augusto Madeira	...	Luis Vitta
Teresa Madruga	...	Deolinda de Jesus
Eric da Silva	...	Jelle
Tomás Alves	...	José António
Fernando Pires	...	Frederico
José Raposo	...	Mário Martins
Diogo Branco	...	Jorge
Filipe Albuquerque	...	Renato
Miguel Raposo	...	Pedro Ayres Magalhães
Afonso Lagarto	...	Carlos Barbosa
João Nunes de Azevedo	...	António (12 anos)
João Melo	...	Jaime Ribeiro

Storyline

António Variações was a unique man. He was born in a small village in Amares, in the north of Portugal. At an early age, unhappy with his life working at a local factory, he came to Lisbon to stay with some relatives. But he was different and he wanted more. He wanted to travel and see the world and he emigrated, starting to work as a barber. But his love for music and performance was so strong that he came back so he could sing in his own language, even if with his looks and outfits he was a victim of prejudice. And even without knowing anything about music he fought for his right to do it the way he believed it was best.

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Plot Keywords:

portugal | gay nightclub | party | portuguese | aids | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

One of António's sisters is in the movie during the scene of his last show.

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Quotes

António Variações: We are like family
Rosa Maria: A somewhat dysfunctional family
António Variações: It's what we got!

User Reviews

When you don't have an idea, you may just ruin a great character

Walking into this movie I was really hoping to learn more about the hairstylist who grew larger than life and became one of Portugal's biggest pop icons. Instead, I was forced into the indulgence of a director, who thought that showing a lot of unknown songs being sung without any orchestration for more than one hour was the way to go. There is no clear idea of what he wants to say, just random thoughts that he tries to blend together without any cohesion. Yes, Variações struggled until his music finally became "visible", but you never really get the idea that he was actually that famous or cherished in Portugal. There are no concerts (playing inside a disco doesn't count), and nothing that can lead you to have that idea. If the story had as much attention put to it as the costume design had, maybe this could have been a great movie.

Details

Official Sites:

The Open Reel [Italy]

Country:

Portugal

Language:

Portuguese English Dutch

Release Date:

22 August 2019 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Variações: Guardian Angel

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,638,712

Company Credits

Production Co:

DAVID & GOLIAS

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos (Dolby Surround 7.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1