Piazzolla, The Years of the Shark

Description

Born with a malformed right foot to a newly immigrated and deeply impoverished Italian couple, young Astor Piazzolla did not have a beginning that would portend greatness. Yet growing up in Mar del Plata with parents who fanatically believed in their only child’s brilliance, they would soon place a 22-pound bandoneon in the boy’s arms, beginning a life’s journey that would take the young musician from the seediest Argentinian nightclubs to the world’s grandest concert halls, and in the process have him regarded as a genius, tango assassin, controversial, virtuoso, and heretic, often all at once. Now, in preparation for a major museum retrospective on his father’s life, son Daniel Piazzolla opens the family vault, sharing never-before-seen home movies and audio recordings conducted by late sister Diana. The film paints a picture of an assured, complicated man; one who struggled to balance creative expression against the needs of making a living; an iconoclast who felt unwelcome in his own country but who found peace fishing its waters; one whose philosophy of disregarding the past and always looking forward would transform the tango and at the same time dramatically impact his own family. Director Daniel Rosenfeld weaves a rich visual and sonic tapestry in telling of a complicated figure whose failures and triumphs created one of Latin America’s greatest musical legacies.

More information: https://www.siff.net/festival/piazzolla-the-years-of-the-shark

Artist Bio

Artist Website