If I Were Luisa Sonza (2023) s01e01 Episode Script

1
[electronic beat playing]
[music stops]
[Luísa] Pity, pity, pity.
[sighs]
How do I look on camera?
[producer] Let's turn both cameras to her.
Film her face up close.
- Do I look pretty?
- [producer] Beautiful.
- Jude, come.
- I can't see myself.
- [man] Calm down.
- [producer] Luz, turn your camera to her.
- [man] I'll sit here.
- Should I use mascara?
- [man] Do it.
- [producer] Do it.
Why?
- [producer] It will highlight your eyes.
- They look so crooked.
[guitar playing]
[audience cheering]
Man, turning 24 was like, "Ooh! Guys."
"What did I get myself into?
I'm a pop star!"
["Carnificina" playing]
[audience cheering]
[music fades]
I'm showing you everything.
From the struggles
[man] Cry now.
After you get your makeup, you can't.
[man 2] Not afterwards.
to the glamour of being in Las Vegas.
["Lança Menina" playing]
Everybody doubted her music,
but she delivered.
Nobody thought she'd have charisma,
she did.
Nobody expected her to be a hit, she was.
That annoys a lot of people.
[man 3] People who want to see
women doing the dishes came for her
with all their might
and she came for them.
MY BOYS WILL KILL ALL YOUR FAMILY, BITCH
[man 3]
My boys will send you to hell, bitch!
I had to leave the country.
THIS KIND OF WOMAN WE THROW AWAY.
Because people were attacking me.
And, like, I was
I was afraid of being killed.
[producer]
How much Rivotril do you take?
It depends.
Sometimes I'd look in the mirror,
I'd curse at myself.
And say,
"Go on, you idiot, you shit. You"
"You have to do this. Who are you?"
You know?
I was hard on myself.
I am my worst hater, for sure.
Oh, my God. This album
and the deadlines and [cries, sniffles]
I'm scared things won't work out.
["Carnificina" playing]
When you become somebody's woman,
your history is erased.
To start off, I'm nobody's woman.
I'm my own woman.
[audience cheering]
[music stops]
Come back to me, Luísa Sonza.
Wow, this will make waves.
THE WORLD IS A MILL
- [man] Hi, guys.
- [man 2] Hi, hi.
- What's up, guys?
- You good? Hello.
You see everyone kissing me hello?
- [man] Never.
- No one ever kisses me.
DECEMBER 2022 - FIRST DAY OF SHOOTING
- [producer] I always say "hi".
- "Hi" is different than a kiss.
[laughing]
This footage can be thrown away,
this is not reality.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR / CHOREOGRAPHER
Man, I always
ART MANAGER
Two reasons: I don't have clean clothes.
- You wouldn't believe it.
- No clean clothes.
- It's like you're going to a party.
- [Luísa] I never saw those shoes.
- I've never seen him like this ever!
- Me either.
But you don't own the rights
to all the footage?
- [producer] We do, yes.
- [all laughing]
I'm already sad
about all the people who will cancel me
once this documentary comes out. [groans]
No, but when it's released,
we will have evolved spiritually.
So, sometimes, you don't need to worry.
- We'll endure the cancelling?
- No, it's like this:
- we put on a show, we get burned.
- So sad.
Then we end up saying something like,
- "Man, I became a better person"
- Oh, it's the narrative arc.
Studying is good ♪
Learning is good ♪
- Now I can read ♪
- Now I can write ♪
And everything else in the world ♪
I want to learn ♪
[man] Luísa, as a kid,
lived in her own world,
making up, making up stories.
And soon, obviously,
around the age of five,
she started going to festivals
to sing, you know?
On weekends and holidays,
when other boys and girls were playing
DAD
she had to worry about going to work.
Then, during the week,
she also had rehearsals.
So she's been working since she was a kid.
In my opinion,
this hurt that part of childhood
that I think is
extremely important for a kid.
- [soft electronic music playing]
- [children laughing]
[children screaming]
[in Portuguese]
Auntie, it bursts when it hits the ground.
Dad, I got Mom right here.
[in English] The first time I noticed
that Luísa had singing abilities
MOM
was at a music festival at school.
3RD NATIVE MUSIC STUDENT FESTIVAL
SEPTEMBER 18-19, 2009
[singing "Roda de Chimarrão",
by Oswaldir & Carlos Magrão]
[man] A little girl went up on stage,
blond hair, tiny.
That's where I met Luísa,
at this festival.
The invitation for Luísa to join Sol Maior
took place two years later, in 2007.
FOUNDER OF SOL MAIOR SHOW
[dramatic music playing]
CONCERTS AND EVENTS
[Luísa] I learned to get on stage,
I learned to sing, to use my voice,
I learned about production.
A lot of what I know
was because back then I had that.
- [woman] A school, right?
- It was a job. A school and a job.
- Yes.
- I'd be scolded.
But I think what I realized as an adult
is that I was just a kid, you know?
I lost count of how many times
Luísa got home at three a.m.
Chilled. In the winter, it was cold.
They'd drop Luísa off at home,
wrapped up in a red blanket.
Luísa was 11, 12,
and had to deal with that.
I think that's why she is
where she is now.
If I'm being honest, I didn't bet on it.
"She is talented,
one day she will become" No.
My musical confidence started there
and my musical insecurity started there.
'Cause he'd look at me and say,
"That girl sings better than you."
But, you know, I was too young, I'd say,
"Okay." I don't know why I didn't stop.
[singing "Tertúlia", by Os Serranos]
[Eliane] Man, I'd cry so much,
because I saw in her
a dream that was also mine.
My dream was to become a singer.
Which I had forgotten.
I'd forgotten about that dream.
In fact, back then,
I wouldn't dare to dream. No.
[Lucas] This week will be tough.
You have concerts
on the 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 1st
Two on the 30th, right?
- [Luísa] Oh, my God. Where's on the 30th?
- Yes. On the 30th or 31st.
[Luísa] I'll die.
Yes, you will.
That's sad.
[Lucas] No, it will be like
[imitates collapse]
What about my voice?
- The ENT specialist. Let's book one.
- Yes.
- For everyday?
- It's important.
["MULHER DO ANO XD" playing]
- [in Portuguese] Make some noise, Torres!
- [audience cheering]
I'm Luísa Gerloff Sonza,
and this is my concert.
[audience cheering]
[Luísa, in English] Small towns are
the most hospitable places,
but they can be
the most hostile place to be in.
POPULATION 7,000 / LUÍSA'S HOMETOWN
Extremely sexist environments.
I felt repressed, suffocated.
Of course I'm not talking about
everyone and everything in small towns,
just the bad part.
And about many things
that my family had to go through with me.
My grandma became a widow
very early in life, with five kids.
My mom became a widow very early in life,
with four kids.
And I, too,
was all by myself at some points, as well.
So it was very challenging.
You know [clicks tongue]
to live in a place
where you were judged all the time,
as a family of women,
you needed to constantly
stay tough in order to survive
even though we were judged in every way.
Always, my life has been very chaotic
and many times, I'd get the worst of it.
And I didn't even understand it.
In my own relationships,
in my childhood, at home,
I never new what was going on.
I was a feminist
long before I made sense of it,
I had no idea what I and my family
had gone through.
I ended up knowing when I was older,
it's a complicated history to
explain.
I lived here. That was my room,
there was a tangerine tree,
a sandbox where we used to play.
Over there was Mutter's house
"MUTTER" IS THE MATRIARCH
Yes, over here there was no wall.
Mutter would come through here.
[Luísa] It was interconnected.
My great-grandma, my grandma,
and I lived together.
[man] It was practically a village.
[chattering]
[producer] What is it like filming this?
Awful.
[producer] Why?
I'm 24, I'm not sure about things.
You know? We're talking about
my life here, not only my job,
because my life is being exposed here.
I'm talking about my stuff
that I'm also processing myself now.
I believe I missed out
on this natural process.
Because I started at seven,
and I began to be well-known,
and I received a lot of hate,
which stopped
that natural process at 17, so
This might be because I'm a Cancer,
or I'm too fragile,
but everything
that seems normal to others,
to me is always the last straw.
[producer]
Is this where you'd record your covers?
Yes, I'd put the camera here
and hit "record".
[singing "Linda Louca e Mimada"]
[Luísa] I rocked big time.
[song stops]
At first we had no idea that she had
a YouTube channel with her covers.
Then she started to become a big hit.
[in Portuguese]
Please help me, sharing, liking
sending to your friends.
We are about to hit
600 thousand subscribers.
[woman, in English]
Luísa is a clear product of social media,
that's how she started out,
the little princess of covers.
JOURNALIS
She fit the stereotype,
with her looks and the songs.
[Luísa] Lightning struck here. Boom.
From the sky. Bam. [clicks tongue, sighs]
Then I got scared, it was funny.
The video went viral.
Literally, lightning struck
in Tuparendi.
She was playing the guitar
when lightning struck.
COMEDIAN
It scared her, and I found it funny.
THE LIGHTNING VIDEO HASN'T BEEN FOUND
I looked her up, clicked on her profile.
I sent her a message,
"I saw your video, very cool. LOL."
And then
Who would guess?
He said, "Let's do some covers together?"
I'm like, "Who's this guy?"
- Yes.
- Then I showed it at The Music,
and everyone said,
"Wow, Whindersson Nunes! Wow!"
- And I
- "Who's that?"
I was clueless, all I knew
was Zezé di Camargo and Luciano,
Rick and Renner, Chitãozinho and Xororó.
I was set to go to São Paulo, and he said:
"I'll come to Tuparendi."
I said: "You don't get it
Do you know where Tuparendi is?
You won't find Tuparendi.
I'm going to sign with this record label
and record some covers
with better quality in São Paulo,
on January 25, my mom's birthday."
Yes. That was it.
- "Drop by, if you want."
[singing "Essa mina é louca", by Anitta]
JANUARY 2016
LUISA AND WHINDERSSON'S FIRST COVER
[Luísa]
I have the best boyfriend in the world.
MARCH 2016, GETTING SERIOUS
- It's not me. It's this guy.
- [Luísa] No, this one over here. [laughs]
Guys, do you have any idea
what just happened in my life?
- What?
- Tell them, honey.
I asked you to be my girlfriend
and Tiago Iorc sang to you.
["Olhos Castanhos" playing]
WOW, HER EYEBROWS ARE TOO MUCH.
BESIDES THAT, THEY ARE CUTE.
Guys.
This needs no caption.
[laughs]
[gentle music playing]
[Luísa] What's social media for?
To show beautiful things about your life.
A couple who's in love, obviously.
[Whindersson] "You're a cute couple,
people like you." That helps, you know?
But when we posted,
that wasn't the intention to be like that.
We posted
because we were having great moments.
"Oh, you brought it on yourselves."
Oh, come on.
It's not like that,
you don't get to destroy someone's life.
And another thing,
if only they'd said, "You're beautiful"
Because that's what we showed.
No, everyone called me a gold digger.
That I was the worst person
on the entire planet.
And Whindersson was a pushover and stuff.
Why wouldn't they comment
on what they were seeing?
Our lives were quite public,
and we enjoyed our life. Definitely.
It was beautiful, I loved my marriage.
Is this a ring?
It could be.
- It's a ring, I know it is.
- So show it off.
MARCH 2017, WEDDING PROPOSAL
- It is, indeed. [chuckles]
- [chuckles]
You're making fun of me.
Is it a ring or just
- It is.
- [rhythmic beat playing]
- Did I get it right?
- Uh-huh.
Take off the blindfold.
[groans] Oh, what are you doing?
Will you marry me?
Yes. [cries]
[rhythmic beat continues]
- [slow electronic music playing]
- [indistinct chattering]
[man chuckles] Geez, that was terrible.
[laughing] Hi, Luce.
- What's up? The show's on pause?
- [Na] We'll see for how long.
CAMP FOR THE NEW ALBUM
[man] Four months?
The deadline is in four months,
but we'll be wrapping it up in two.
Then we'll record the vocals,
one track per day.
[music stops]
SINGERS AND SONGWRITERS
[Luísa] I write about everything
that I feel in my life
PRODUCER
then I get together with other people,
and I show them what I wrote, thought.
SINGER AND SONGWRITER
I like a diverse group of people
working with me, like you.
- [Doug] From every corner of Brazil.
- Very diverse, that's what's cool.
- Yeah. Cool.
- I think this is what's cool about it.
As I always say,
always tell me your thoughts.
- [Doug] Yeah.
- You know?
[Dan] We will.
I could accomplish a lot alone,
I have the ability.
But I don't think that
It'd be good for my ego,
and not for my music.
And like, in this album I wanna talk about
all these other feelings, you know?
- Like, toxicity
- [Doug] Yes.
of us knowing
about our weaknesses, of longing
- You know when you embrace sadness?
- [Doug] Wanna show me? "I'm sad but fine."
- Yes, like, life Accepting
- [Aísha] Healing wounds.
No, accepting the situation as it is.
[Dan]
"I'm already used to it. I accepted it."
[Luísa] You know, like Do you get it?
Like
- "I'm tired."
- "I love you but I can't love you more."
Like you're afraid of hurting the person,
because you like them so much.
That's it. You say, "Man, I
I don't know how to love anymore,
because I'm not fine, emotionally.
And it's not about you, it's not about us.
It's just about me, I can't handle it."
I get it, some things that
I've been through are coming to mind.
Maybe do it as if I were
writing a letter to that person,
but I'm never going to send it.
"I'm the problem, I ruin everything.
I ruin everything I touch."
It's as if I was talking to them
without actually telling them.
I say it in my mind, through the song.
- I wrote down a bunch, let's see.
- [Doug] Show us.
Hang on, I'm searching for it
because I have stuff about other themes.
"I miss the sex, and the hugs,
the passion around us,
the overwhelming power we had."
Then, "Overwhelming that sneaks up on us."
"I miss everything."
"When am I ever going to feel that again?"
"It's hard to move on."
"Where did our overwhelming love go?"
[André vocalizing and playing the guitar]
- It's all here.
- It's done.
Where did our overwhelming love go?
You know?
Where did our overwhelming love go?
And love itself, not the person, you know?
Not the person, but love itself.
[slow instrumental music playing]
FEBRUARY 2018, WEDDING DAY
Getting married is really stressful.
19 YEARS OLD
I've been crying for half an hour.
[music continues]
[church bell dinging]
[woman] Their story was really beautiful.
One helping out the other,
taking care of each other, very young.
COUSIN
She did everything for him.
FORMER PERSONAL ASSISTAN
If he left,
if he had stopped working for a moment,
she would stop to be with him.
[all cheering]
[music continues]
[André vocalizing]
- [Dan] That's it. The chorus.
- [Luísa] Beautiful!
Music makes me communicate in a better way
the feelings I have
a hard time expressing normally.
I've always used music to
to unload, to express my feelings.
[Luísa, Dan, and André vocalizing]
There's this quote I really like,
which relates a lot to my life.
It's, "When there's no one left,
there's still you."
[Aísha] Like, no
[singing]
Beautiful.
That's beautiful.
"When there's no one left,
there's still you."
[André] From that part, then.
[all singing]
[Luísa] Huh.
- [Aísha] Awesome.
- [André] That was fucking great.
["Outra Vez" playing]
[Aísha] Wow guys.
- Damn. Damn.
- [André] Fucking great.
[all cheering, laughing]
Love you.
- [Luísa groans, speaks childishly]
- Oh, my god.
"Who's more feisty?" That's easy.
Who?
Me.
["Braba" playing]
With these songs,
they began to bring Luísa into pop music.
That's who she is.
This girl has potential.
"Braba" was a milestone in her career,
her first number one hit.
It was a solo song, and you don't see
that much these days, a solo.
She's saying,
"I'm feisty and other women are, too."
DANCER
"I wanna say it. What I'm saying,
a lot of women wanna say."
"I'm feisty, people.
And I like to be sexy, too."
[music continues]
Her life was out in the open.
Since the beginning of their relationship,
it had been criticism after criticism.
People, I was sleeping and I just woke up
to everyone calling me.
FEBRUARY 2019 - A NUDE PICTURE IS LEAKED
I saw that I posted
a picture of me naked on Instagram.
Someone posted.
Someone who has my password.
"Someone hacked my account."
She thought of me, because I had access.
You know? "Take Tay's phone,
take everyone's phone, no one can"
Her paranoia.
It started then and there.
Whenever we had our phones like this,
she'd come and say:
"Why is your phone like that?"
I'd say: "I was just holding my phone."
"Delete!" I realized
it was the photo she'd sent me.
One of my most beloved relatives said:
"Wow, now her whole career
is in jeopardy."
And I was told they said that.
It hurt so much at first, but I thought,
"What?
My career is done because of my nipple?
Because of my body?"
[clanking in the background]
Dude, when girls had
their nude pics leaked,
- teenage girls.
- [friend] It happened a lot.
Dude, they'd have
to move out of their town.
- Yes.
- The girls had to, like
There were a lot of suicides
because of that.
You know? I remember cases.
And, actually, I was raised
to believe that this was absurd.
"My God, fuck!"
And it's something so banal.
- Why even discuss it?
- Exactly.
I don't know any other person who'd manage
to overcome everything she's been through.
MUSICIAN
A whole country wishing you ill will.
LUISA SONZA IS A WHORE, SISTERHOOD MY ASS
LUÍSA SONZA WAS A BITCH,
I WON'T DEFEND HER
HER ONLY QUALITY
WAS BEING WHINDERSSON'S WIFE
It's this need to be loved,
to be accepted, to be
[inhales sharply]
To be liked, you know? To be
This is my problem too.
LUISA'S HYPERSEXUALIZATION
ISN'T EMPOWEREMEN
[man] First she was bashed
because she was a gold digger,
and that she did this, that,
and the other thing.
Then talking about her
using her body to become famous.
SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR
People called me a pushover.
Why am I like this?
Is it the clothes I wear? Is it the way I
What's wrong with me?
In fact, people wanted to put me down
and this also affected him.
"Why would Luísa date
a guy like that?" [scoffs]
Because he's fucking awesome.
Do you hear me?
One of the best people I've ever met.
I thought it is what it is.
We had to stand all sorts of comments.
"Eventually, they'll forget."
It takes energy to trash people. Right?
So there will come a time
when they'll just stop.
But people only let it go
after we broke up.
I keep this shit on display.
- [Doug] Check that out, it's a trophy.
- To show everyone how fucking insane
the shit was that they did to me.
- [Doug] Let me see.
- You're a bunch of fucking assholes.
You're assholes! You are!
- [Doug] You can't be serious.
- [Luísa] The kind of stuff we got.
MOST IMPACTFUL BREAKUP IN 2020
- [Luísa] You fucked with our minds.
- They delivered this to you?
Brazil threatened to kill me,
I had to go to fucking Mexico, you idiots.
["O mundo é um moinho",
by Cartola playing]
LUÍSA SONZA AND WHINDERSSON NUNES
ANNOUNCE THEIR DIVORCE
BITCH JUST WANTED FAME, FIND ANOTHER ONE
TELL HER TO FUCK OFF
IT WAS SO OBVIOUS THAT THIS WOULDN'T LAST,
MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE.
WHAT A CLOWN!
NOW SHE DOESN'T NEED HIM ANYMORE,
SHE IS FAMOUS, SHE'S GOT IMPLANTS
BITCH
TRANSLATION: SHE'S A FUCKING CHEATER.
MORON WHO IS A PUSHOVER,
SPENT MILLIONS TO MARRY A WHORE
SHE'S FAMOUS THANKS TO HIM
SHE'S TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION
WINDERSSON AND SONZA, THE PERFECT COUPLE,
THE WHORE AND THE FUNCTIONALLY ILLITERATE
If we hadn't been so harassed,
we'd still be together.
You know, but I also understand
that it was important
for us to go our separate ways.
I think we were, indeed,
in different moments in our careers
and we also saw life differently.
In their last year together,
they weren't themselves anymore,
they couldn't feel the connection.
He went on a tour.
If I'm remembering right,
it was a world tour.
And he came back a bit different.
I came back crazy, paranoid, insane.
[producer] What did you see in Mozambique?
[sighs] I saw a level of poverty
that I had never seen before, you know?
And I kind of realized
that at some points in my childhood,
I'd been in the same situation
as those kids, you know?
A woman showed me some food,
"This is today's meal."
"Let's see what the meal's like."
I realized it was the same food
that my grandma would make me.
At that moment, I realized
that it wasn't a cultural thing,
I was poor.
Got it? I was fucked up.
I had no idea.
Then I came home with that mindset,
you know, that you
"Ah, you don't deserve what you have,
your life has no meaning."
I kind of
I forgot about myself,
forgot about my problems
to focus on his.
But the thing is
that maybe he will never realize that
because I was just 19, 17, 18.
And by trying to save someone else,
you [stammering]
only get more screwed up,
because you don't save yourself
in the process.
Because I also had my head
totally screwed up, you know?
- [producer] Really?
- I wasn't cool either.
- You weren't okay?
- No, but I wasn't a priority.
People would come to talk to me
about Whindersson.
They'd come to me to talk
about Whindersson's health,
and I was like
I was blamed for Whindersson's depression,
I was blamed
for all the hate that I received,
I was blamed for it all.
All the problems in the world
are women's fault.
As much as she loved him,
and she loved him very much,
they couldn't go any further.
He would rather be with his friend,
with his drugs,
than with her.
I used any drug I wanted.
The illusion that it's more fun,
"I don't know what I'm doing,
tomorrow I won't remember this."
I was
in a "live one day at a time" mindset.
It took a while to admit to myself
that I was really lost.
They tried really hard to hold on,
tried to survive.
We're the kind of people
who hold onto the hand of the one we love
until they take their very last breath.
And I think that was
what Luísa tried to do for him.
- [producer] You broke it off?
- Yeah. I noticed that things were
We weren't talking, we didn't desire
each other, that kind of thing
Like two cousins
who get together at Christmas.
Like, we'd sleep together,
we'd do everything couples do,
minus the love.
- [audience cheering]
- [Luísa vocalizing]
["Penhasco" playing]
[audience singing along]
[audience cheering]
[music continues]
[music fades]
[Luísa] I'm here.
[Doug] Look who's here!
- [Lucas] Hey there. Hi, girl.
[man] And three.
And here, write down the date.
[Luísa] What is it?
- [Doug] What's the date?
- [man] Thirteenth.
[Doug] Twenty-two.
You know more or less.
- The vibe, the number of songs
- [Doug] The number of songs? No.
I want to make a big album.
Twenty tracks or more.
Something different
from what we've been doing, right?
- No, it will be
- Exploring new things?
- It'll be like Doce 22
- Mature.
mature, deep, and sadder.
Adult life is sadder.
Another theme is
a theme based on disappointment.
- Not only related to relationships
- [Luísa] Totally. Completely.
- but related to the world, to work
- With life. Life. Maturity.
- a bit of a disappointment with art.
- Totally.
That's why I keep talking so much about
that song "O mundo é um moinho".
It's about everything I've been through,
I've dreamed so much about,
what Cartola sings about,
it's going to crush all your petty dreams,
and reduce your illusions to dust.
And you're on the edge of an abyss,
which, deep down,
you know you created entirely by yourself.
So, you started to feel disillusioned
by everything,
and this triggered, like,
escapes or issues in your mind,
about the dreams, and now you might
dissociate from reality.
When I hallucinated,
it was very much a moment as though,
I had reached the top. Boom.
The place we wanted to be,
and then it started to
[imitates collapse]
From the moment you reach your dream,
your dream doesn't fulfill you.
You get married, it doesn't work out,
- your relationships don't work out
- [Doug] It's fucked up.
But everything else does work out,
all you've dreamed about comes true.
What you wanted from life,
you know, from your career,
but this kills you inside.
[singing "Onde é que deu errado?"]
["Onde é que deu errado?" playing]
IF I WERE LUIZA SONZA
[music continues]
[music ends]