Garrincha: Lonely Star

VANCOUVER PREMIERE  │  A co-production between Brazil and Chile, Garrincha: Lonely Star dramatizes the life of former Brazilian soccer idol Manuel dos Santos, nicknamed Garrincha, a hard-drinking, hard-living bad boy who, at the peak of his extraordinary career in the early 1960s, had a scandalous relationship with the famed Brazilian Samba singer Elza Soares. Now widely considered the best Brazilian player ever, Pelé excepted, Garrincha (played here by André Gonçalves) was born with birth defects that left his gait crooked and gave rise to his nickname, which translates as “little bird”; he was also called “Angel with Bent Legs.” He was a key part of Brazil’s World Cup winning teams of 1958 and 1962. The latter tournament was held in Chile; the film has Soares (played by Taís Araújo) travelling to Santiago join him there. At the time, Garrincha was married to his childhood sweetheart, with whom he had eight daughters. He would later leave his wife for Soares, but his personal life — a sad litany of alcoholism, marital strife, financial woes and traffic accidents — would remain troubled until his early death at age 49. The film is based on a 1995 biography by journalist Ruy Castro.