Felipe Novaes A touching portrait of one of Brazil's most iconic performers, beautifully photographed by Adrian Teijido and very well directed by Hugo Prata, who not only dominates the technical aspects of filmmaking, but also knows how to play with the language of music throughout his film. Andreia Horta shines as the troubled but yet brilliant singer. Julio Andrade surprises as a particularly spirited Lennie Dale. Besides great performances, the film leads you through the beginnings of MPB (Popular Brazilian Music) and what it meant to Brazil as a nation facing military dictatorship.I definitely recommend Elis to anyone who appreciates good music, fascinating characters and great entertainment.

Luisa Ferreira What a beautiful and touching movie! The sensitiveness of the director amazed me as he was able to show this great singer as an idol and a human being at the same time. It must have been tough to choose what events of her life to tell in only two hours as she's gone through so many things during her short lived life, but he was able to stay true to who she was and to show how she evolved from a talented young singer, to major success, and her early death fighting her own demons. No words to describe Andrea Horta!!! What an amazing and powerful acting!! Elis lived again through her. Beautiful photography, arts and costume designs!! A must see!!

jgcorrea When Elis passed away in 1982, people and talked about an involuntary, casual overdose: she was kinda "first-time sailor," the media never spoke of suicide. The writers of this film, however, reveal that she had been using drugs since long before (the mid sixties to be precise) and did commit suicide, driven by a chronic, deep depression. The movie was based rather on the musical show "Elis, a musical" by his fan, producer, friend and lover Nelson Motta than on Julio Maria's biography entitled "Nothing will be as before." The complexity of Elis's life was directly proportional to her unpredictable, impetuous, and ambitious personality. Only five feet tall, Elis was blessed with a high-pitched, sincere voice, good technique, and a great rhythmic and harmonic sense, somewhat jazzing everything up. The film omits her first two records produced under the tutelage of the father, with a repertoire chosen by the recording label and a standard background playback sound. It also omits her first source of income when she arrived in Rio de Janeiro in 1964, namely the jingles she recorded for advertising agencies under the tutelage of her first boyfriend in Rio, Henrique Meyer, also a gaucho. The film exaggerates, on the other hand, the supposed political side of the singer - who was never a communist. It highlights characters absolutely unimportant for this kind of biopic, such as one grotesque colonel interrogator of the Brazilian army, one French reporter too preoccupied with the evils of third-world dictatorships, and one particular cartoonist, Henfil from O Pasquim, who slashed her by drawing her singing in the presence of Adolf Hitler. The film, which can be seen as a pleasant musical, involuntarily confirms Heitor de Paola's thesis of drugs acting as a means - whether or not unconscious - of a collective suicidal drive.

Francisco Carvalho A great assortment of badly told facts, actors who dub the studio song and a sad vision about Elis Regina. In all, a story badly told. Unless you already know the characters, mostly famous Brazilian musicians, I believe it is really hard to understand what is happening and their motivations. For instance, Elis Regina seems to be a happy young singer who suddenly turns into a spoiled unhappy house-wife. She then starting drinking, taking stuff (unclear what she takes, such a superficial approach…) and then she dies.The main actress tried hard, but could only imitate the laughter of Elis, which she did all the time, even when it did not make sense.Whoever made this film clearly was based on the same research of the musical (that's a good one) and does not like Elis Regina.