When the chords of the fourth movement of Beethoven’s ninth symphony sound, we do not think of the German composer, but of Miguel Ríos. The voice of the Spanish singer intoning what is called the Hymn to joy has replaced the original classic in the popular imagination. Just a few notes for people to start saying: “Listen, brother, to the hymn of joy, the joyous song of those who wait for a new day.” Since the song was released on the musician’s second album, Wake up, In 1970 it became a hit not only in Spain, but it also reached number one on the charts in Australia, Canada, Germany and Switzerland. Its English version, A song of joy, He performed it on Billboard’s Easy Listening Music.
Behind the ball Hymn to joy There is the talent of Waldo de los Ríos, an Argentinian composer famous since the end of the 60s. He had his own program with his name in big letters; He was in charge of the soundtrack for masterpieces such as Who can kill a child?, and was a fundamental figure in Spain in the last decade of Francoism. Although born in Argentina, it was here that he became a star, mainly thanks to the incredible success of Hymn to joy. Enough to lead an idyllic life which ended abruptly in 1977, when he committed suicide at home with a bullet to the head.
The legacy of Waldo de los Ríos was limited to this song, but his name was not justified, even being forgotten by many over time. This is one of the reasons that pushed directors Charlie Arnaiz and Alberto Ortega to make a documentary, Valdo, in which they investigate the figure of the musician and try to solve the mystery of his death, what was going on in the head of someone who a priori had everything to commit suicide? Managers of other jobs such as Anatomy of a Dandy either Raphaëlisimo They once again take advantage of the life of their character to return to the history of Spain of those years.
In this case, what happened in the street, the repression of the Franco regime has a fundamental importance in the character, since Waldo de los Ríos was homosexual, experienced the prejudices of the time and was never able to live his sexuality in complete freedom, but rather within the walls of his house, which has become his stronghold of freedom. As if it were vinyl, Valdo shows the A face of the character, the one he knew, his rise, his fame, his successes, until his tragic death which surprised everyone. There they turn the disk over and try to delve into its shadow to understand what happened. To do this, they use the musician’s own equipment, who recorded everything he could in animated images, which serves as a narrative thread for a film which presents the testimonies – never in talking heads – of the stars who knew him , like Miguel Ríos. , Karina, Jeanette or Raphaël.
The story of Waldo de los Ríos was presented to them in the form of a newspaper article that discussed the biography that had just been published about the musician. It was written by Miguel Fernández, whose voice serves as a narrative thread in a decision that comes into its own in the thrilling final minutes. “How is it possible that a person who fought all his life to be remembered, to not be forgotten, who had a television show with his name, who sold millions of records, that almost no one remembers his name anymore?” asked Alberto Ortega? himself by discovering his story.
Through him, they reconstruct the Spain of the time, because “it is impossible to know a character without contextualizing him.” “You couldn’t understand his personality, even the many decisions he makes in life. This also happened to us with Francisco Umbral. Umbral and Waldo agree on several things. The first is that both keep drama underneath the character and agree that both are stars and both, one way or another, fade into obscurity. To tell the story of Waldo, we also had to tell the story of Spain at the time and the music industry of the moment,” explains Charlie Arnaiz.
Waldo de los Ríos’ penchant for recording everything led to speculation upon his death that he may have recorded his death. This was published in all the media, but no one found the tape. The directors admit that they thought that in one of the boxes full of material they had opened, they might encounter “the fateful moment”. “It’s something that sometimes we wanted to find, other times we didn’t. Either way, it’s one of those big unresolved questions. It is not possible to know if it was recorded. If it did, logic tells you that someone would have found it and destroyed it. But yes, this tension was in the developments,” recognize the two directors. With all these elements, it is appreciated that Valdo never fall into the evils of a real crime, in the surprising twists and turns, in the morbid questions and in the doubts that only serve as bait. Charlie Arnaiz knows that “the most obvious thing would have been to go there, to that most morbid part”.
Where they insist, and this ends up becoming the heart of the film, is in defending Waldo de los Ríos as one of the many artists who could not live their sexuality freely and who experienced homophobia from the era of the dictatorship. “He was one of those people who fought for something as simple as loving whoever he wanted. Waldo could have been happy, and he wasn’t just a matter of time. Just a year after his death, laws and society began to be revolutionized and rights were granted,” explains Ortega.
It also reminds us that we live in a time where the reactionary right is once again trying to target the LGBT community. This is why they wanted to prove the musician right, “because in our class of children, there will be Waldos in 2024”. “Currently, some people are on trial for hitting, beating and killing Samuel Luiz because he was homosexual. It happens, so it’s not in the past, there are still people who tell you that if they had a gay son it would bother them. “That’s why this ending is so beautiful, because it was a way to honor people like Waldo, those who took to the streets to demand their rights, something he couldn’t do.” They. Maybe the mystery of Waldo de los Ríos remains, but at least now people will be able to know his name and understand everything that was happening behind his glasses and his smile.
