Reviewed by Lee Hill
“My makeup is dry and it cracks round my chin / I’m drowning my sorrows in whiskey and gin,” The Kinks sang on their 1967 hit single, The Death of a Clown, and that in many ways sums up the theme of Bingo: The King of Mornings. Audiences love a tale of the clown that cries on the inside. Bingo is the slickly executed directorial debut of Daniel Rezende, the Oscar nominated film editor of City of God, Elite Squad, Motorcycle Diaries and the Tree of Life. This is the fictionalized reworking of the real life of Arlindo Barreto, who became a perverse kind of celebrity in the 80s playing the Brazilian version of Bozo the clown. To preserve his mystique for children, Arlindo was not allowed to reveal his identity, which hampered future acting prospects and led him into a cycle of alcohol and drug abuse.
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