AllMovie

Even those cineastes who fail to recognize the name Vinicius De Moraes will know at least two of his works; he was the Brazilian belletrist who provided the source play for the legendary Black Orpheus (1959), directed by Marcel Camus, and authored the pop standard "The Girl from Impanema," sung by Astrud Gilberto. But this only represents the tip of the proverbial iceberg. A cultural genius by any definition, De Moraes built up a fantastic body of work as a playwright, lyricist and poet and eventually qualified as a national icon. With the documentary Vinicius, director Miguel Faria, Jr. pays homage to De Moraes, and takes a long, loving look at the man's life, career and myriad accomplishments, by intercutting archival footage, interviews and musical renditions of the artist's songs, performed by famous Brazilian singers.