‘This is going to be a quiet film, isn’t it?’ Juan Carlos Godoy asks at the beginning of Hoy como ayer. The camera has been on him for nearly 10 minutes, and so far not a word has been spoken. Bernie IJdis calmly follows the 87-year-old tango singer while he prepares for a gig in a bar in his home city of Buenos Aires, as he does virtually every day.
When Godoy has taken his place at the microphone, it becomes clear just how much he still remains a master of the art of singing. With great conviction, he presents tangos he has probably already sung a thousand times.
After his previous films Jalan Raya Pos (The Great Post Road) and Riviera Hotel, IJdis was eager to make a film without financial backing and without the lengthy wait this always entailed. Hoy como ayer was put together and shot in a very brief period, in total freedom. The result is an authentic, loving and delicate portrait of the old maestro, Godoy – and of his city of Buenos Aires, where the tango is still a flourishing art form.
Film details
- Countries of production
- Argentina, Netherlands
- Year
- 2011
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2011
- Length
- 70'
- Medium/Format
- HDcam
