Gustavo Cerati: lives that marked yours

On November 25, the documentary of the life of the Argentine singer-songwriter was released. This is what we saw

In June of this year, National Geographic announced the second installment of its special BIOS, Lives that marked yours, which revolves around the life story of exemplary characters. This second installment was about Gustavo Cerati, the leader of the Argentine band Soda Stereo. Since then fans of the band, Cerati and Argentine rock were looking forward to the premiere of the documentary, which promised unpublished images of the singer and his life. This Sunday, November 25, we were finally able to see it and this is what we saw.

The format

The documentary is divided IGNORE INTO two parts as episodes, but in total lasts about two hours. It has interviews of artists and relatives of Gustavo Cerati, of whom we will talk later, but it is also told from the spaces inhabited by the singer. It is led by the Chilean singer Javiera Mena, who travels the streets of Buenos Aires for which Cerati walked and enters the house where he grew up. Thus, the documentary tells us about this idol, taking us by the hand to the places where he composed his most well-known lyrics, showing us his intimate places, the places where he slept and where he thought.

The documentary takes a chronological journey that begins in his childhood and in his beginnings in music. Then his colleagues from Soda Stereo narrate the beginnings of the band. The viewer can also see the stories behind the song Animal Song, the epic concert on July 9, and the separation of Soda. He also investigates the solo albums of Cerati as Amor Amarillo and Soda's return to the stage in 2007. Finally, his friends comment on what they experienced during the last four years of Cerati's life, after the ACV, and his later death.

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The testimonies: Cerati through another look

In addition to showing us the spaces inhabited by his presence, Javiera Mena talks with artists and relatives of Cerati. On the one hand there are interviews with artists who shared that musical era with Gustavo Cerati and with Soda Stereo, that is, they made music at the same time as he and they can speak with the authority of the influence that their lyrics and chords caused on music of the moment and the artists after him. National Geographic surprised us with an interview the Colombian singer Shakira, who highlighted the talent of Cerati as a lyricist. The documentary also features interviews and conversations with the Argentine musician Leo García, and the musical producers Adrián Taverna and Daniel Korn.

On the other hand, we have the testimonies of those who have always been part of their lives. From the hand of Laura Cerati, sister of Gustavo, Mena goes through the house where the singer grew up. She also talks with Lilian Clarck, his mother, and with Lisa Cerati, his daughter. Between these three women, they manage to give a more personal and intimate portrait of the singer. We know him as a human being. Although, of course, in this case, the human being of the musician cannot be divided, because, as his mother says, "Gustavo lived for music". In this tour of the house, we know the place where he sat to compose and tells us how he wrote some of his most famous songs. We also know his beginnings in music. Mena also talks with an old girlfriend of Cerati, who shares in the documentary an unpublished song "Hablando de vos", which she would have written for her.

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Finally, we have his bandmates. To the other part of Soda Stereo. Charly Alberti and Zeta Bosio, who know him in both aspects: the intimate and the musical. They tell the process of the band, the beginnings of Soda, the production of the records, the tensions. All this while doing a detailed portrait and a tribute to his friend. These three forms of testimony are intertwined in the documentary of National Geographic and result in a moving look of the artist and his life.

Who are behind BIOS?

The documentary is part of the docu-series BIOS: Lives that marked yours. This project pays homage to the life of different Latin American idols with the purpose of investigating and exploring the creative mind of the human being. The first installment was dedicated to the vocalist of the Mexican rock band El Tri, Alex Lora. Now this second installment dedicated to Gustavo Cerati, the genius of Argentine rock, is produced by Sebastián Ortega, who has worked closely with musicians such as Charly García. This documentary, then, combines elements of Cerati's private life with his musical influences to unravel his genius while paying tribute to him.

LatinAmerican Post | Juliana Rodríguez Pabón

Translated from "Gustavo Cerati: vidas que marcaron la tuya"

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