Who was Waldo de los Ríos? Those of us who are fascinated by the music of this Argentine composer —’The Hymn to Joy’, the OST of ‘Who Can Kill a Child’, his group ‘Los Waldos’; I don’t know: too much—and because of his strange suicide, we finally have the answer. ‘Waldo’ is released, a documentary directed by two usual suspects: Charlie Arnáiz and Alberto Ortega —’Umbral: anatomy of a dandy’ or ‘Supergarcía’—. His work is based on a premise: the obsession of the writer Miguel Fernández, author of the essential ‘Waldo de los Ríos: challenging oblivion’, with his figure. On that basis they build an amazing documentary. Two decisions that distance their film from the purria that populates the subgenre of documentary biographies in our country: I do not want to name several recently released ones, nor comment at length on the decision to ‘Essentials’ from La 2 to mutilate others up to 60 minutes. The first success: putting together a complex puzzle with only two pieces. The initial half, amazing start, focused on Waldo’s happiness. And the next, overwhelmed by the hidden sadness that we did not suspect in the previous one. It afflicts, illuminates, massacres oblivion. That’s why this documentary matters so much. The second great goal: avoiding talking heads. We only hear the voice-over of Miguel Ríos, Karina or Jeanette, dressed in archive, music or Waldo’s own reflections. The documentary reveals to us: the genius was recorded on home video and audio at a time when that was not fashionable. The last and central thing: Waldo’s relationship – a homosexual who never came out, could never come out of the closet – with his mother, the implacable Martha de los Ríos, and her partner, the implacable (bis) Isabel Pisano. That triangle of biologies harming each other, the formal capacity of Arnáiz and Ortega and the overwhelming music of the protagonist alternate and make up this little prodigy. ‘Waldo’ ends sunny, vindictive and, at the same time, somber. There are no human atoms left from either De los Ríos or its surroundings. That is why this documentary afflicts, illuminates, massacres oblivion. That’s why this documentary matters so much.
#Galán #Waldo
