Boleiros (English)

"Pros" — Synopsis

In a typical São Paulo bar where pictures of football players cover the walls, a group of men has in common: they are all boleiros (pros), professionals and former professionals of football. They usually meet there to recall events and make comments on games, players, teams and referees. This is the starting point of Pros, Ugo Giorgetti’s fifth long feature.

Former players Naldinho (Flávio Migliaccio) and Otávio (Adriano Stuart) usually meet every afternoon with other former football players: Ari (João Acaiabe), Tito (Oswaldo Campozano), Juiz (Rogério Cardoso) and Mamamá (César Negro). Sitting around the table they make a comment here and there which reminds them of some curious and unforgettable incident they have heard of. That is how, for example, they talk about the vicissitudes of a corrupt referee (Otávio Augusto), trying to fix games for a particular team; about player Paulinho Majestade (Aldo Bueno), who is forced to put his trophies and medals up for sale because he is broke; about the talented young player (João Motta) who gets involved with criminals; about Azul (Cleber Colombo), scorer of the most beautiful goal of recent times, and who becomes a one night hero; about the injured player (André Veras), who resorts to a Voodoo priest to be healed; and about the lady-killer (Paulo Coronato), who tries to sneak past the security to seduce a sexy guest at the hotel where his team is staying. Irreverently nostalgic, Giorgetti crowds his film with ordinary characters, with episodes we have once heard about someone. He does this so skillfully that we end up being persuaded that everyone really has a story worth knowing about, they just need to learn how to tell it.

Shootings

"Pros" took about 60 days to shoot and it mobilized a quite large crew since there were 104 actors and a significant number of extras. This huge contingent did not make much of a difference to the director because the film is practically entirely narrated in episodes. What was actually relevant to the director’s work was the diversity of actors involved in the takes.

There were 28 locations in several spots in São Paulo, which adds a special nuance to the movie, since it is possible to perform a brief reading of the city through the chosen neighborhoods. However, the challenge of shooting so many external takes in a metropolis was not easy. The crew had to face the difficulties of traffic and excess noise. Because it is a movie about the football world, "Pros" had the support of former Corinthians player Luiz Carlos, who provided the director with tips that only a professional in the field would know. Another talented former Corinthians player also gave his contribution. Zé Maria, the world champion of 1970, appears in the film as a coach.


Interview with the director

Ugo Giorgetti has been establishing himself as a creator of unmistakable ordinary types. His over twenty years experience with commercials may have provided him with the technique of extracting the special feature from something that does not seem special at all. It was just like that in "Festa" (Party), with the adorable lowlife snooker players and the third-rate musician, and in "Sábado" (Saturday), with the Forensic Medicine Institute employees doing their mundane job, the preppy advertising lady and the barbecue boy. In "Pros", his fourth fiction long feature, it is not different. There are characters we will recognize, although we may not know them personally.

Apart from the fact that you love football, is there any other reason for a movie about football players?
There’s nothing apart from that. During your lifetime you abandon things, you leave people, houses, neighborhoods behind. In my case, few things have remained, but one of them is football. I’ve never lost interest in football, it is part of my identity.

Have you ever played football?
Sure! I was a good player. In fact everyone thinks they’re a good player, but when you actually see them... You know, this is a funny thing, but to really enjoy football you need to have played it one day. Only then is it possible to deeply understand and appreciate what “that movie” is. There’s a player, Evair, who says, “Football is a simple thing. I pass to you, you pass back to me”. The essence is very simple, but you try doing it properly!

In your film the events you narrate are related to particular teams. Is there a reason for that?
What I’m about to say may sound pretentious, but the truth is that I did not make a movie about football, I made a movie about my football. Most of the film is about a type of football that no longer exists. The teams I chose were those that belong to my universe, rooted in my childhood. When I was a kid, for instance, if you talked about a team from Rio de Janeiro it felt as if you were talking about a team from Croatia. You knew the teams from the radio, everything seemed distant.

One of the most striking scenes in the film is the videotape of a goal by Dener, the Portuguesa player who died in a car accident. Why did you choose this goal?
First, because of the requirements of the script, which indicated a black player scoring the goal. Based on that, the most beautiful goal scored by a black player of recent times was this one. Do you know how it happened? The Portuguesa coach then told the players in the changing room at half-time, “You guys are doing everything right, but it doesn’t help. Dener, you go out there and win the game for us, son.”

In your films, you have the ability of turning facts which at first sight seem silly into funny and moving stories. Do you really think that everyone has an interesting story?
I don’t know if everyone has an interesting story, but football players do. I’d say that some people work or live in very special situations. The guy who makes a living playing snooker, the guy who works at the Forensic Medicine Institute, the football player, those people live totally extraordinary lives, without any doubt.

After "Pros", what’s next?
My next project is a long feature which I call "O Príncipe" ("The Prince"), about an intellectual who has to return to São Paulo because of family problems after living in Paris for seventeen years.


Pros
(Long feature, 93 minutes, colour, 1998)

Technical Team
Script and Direction — Ugo Giorgetti
Executive Production — Malu Oliveira
Production Direction — Marçal Souza
Photography — Rodolfo Sanchez
Art Direction — Isabel Giorgetti
Sound — Miguel Ângelo
Editing — Marc De Rossi
Soundtrack — Mauro Giorgetti


Other films by the director

Long Feature Films
Quebrando a Cara (documentary, 1977-1986)
Jogo Duro (fiction, 1985)
Festa (fiction, 1988)
Sábado (fiction, 1995)

Shorts
Bairro dos Campos Elíseos (1973)
Rua São Bento, 405, Prédio Martinelli (1975)
Praça da Sé (1976, editing supervision)