Nominated for the Golden Globe for best foreign language film and shortlisted by Brazil in the best international film category at the Oscars, Walter Salles’ return to the big screen should not be missed.
Famous Brazilian filmmaker, who has been away from the big screen for 12 years, with his first feature film set in Brazil since 2008’s ‘Linha De Passe’ (‘Through Line’). Walter Salles (‘Brazil Central Station’, ‘Motorcycle Diaries’) returns with a true story of resistance and loss, set in a dark chapter in Brazilian history.
‘I’m still here’ (“I’m Still Here”) follows housewife Eunice Paiva (Fernanda Torres), who is forced to reinvent herself as a woman. activist when her husband and former assistant Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello) becomes one of the missing persons detained, interrogated, tortured and who was never heard from again during the Brazilian military service in the 70s.
Faced with the authorities’ refusal to arrest her, Eunice relentlessly pursues the truth about the case. enforced disappearance Her husband is trying to keep his family of five together.
Adapted from the memoirs of Marcelo Rubens PaivaThe son of Rubens and Eunice, this low-key drama is riveting and never veers into melodrama. By telling the story from the perspective of those left behind, Salles creates an impressive film that stands out from other narratives that deal with the subject through methodical reenactments.
The director manages to convey a a palpable feeling of anguish always and not only in the center stage of the kidnapping, which borders on the horror of home invasion. It immerses viewers in the insidious nature of institutionalized kidnappings and the monstrous mechanism by which cruelty becomes a daily occurrence. But the biggest success of ‘I’m Still Here’ is that it keeps things personal.
resistance against injustice
At the center of it all is the magnificent Fernanda Torres, who portrays strength in the most emphatic way. Layered performance keeps you hooked on the game Eunice’s terrible experienceWhere fear, pain and hope are brutally intertwined. Salles knows how to keep Torres at the forefront, but manages to create a space where the viewer can step back and register the broader, more brutal ramifications of the event. state-sanctioned kidnappings. This is where the real theme of the movie resonates: resistance against injustice.
The film may be a touching tribute to an extraordinary woman, but it is above all a sobering and timely reminder. As seen in the last act of the movie effects of military dictatorship What ruled Brazil for more than two decades continues to be felt today. It has become a long forgotten trauma of being abused by. Jair Bolsonarowhich has been for a long time praised the torturers since the time of the dictatorship. His vampire specter and the rise of the far right loom over the film, and with it comes the fear that memory is under attack.
The traumas of the past can be confronted, but the warning signs belong to the present, and those who want to forget are validating the crimes of history. Memory becomes the last act of resistance. If it is distorted, destroyed, or simply not remembered, past mistakes They are doomed to repeat themselves.
‘I’m Still Here’ premiered Venice Film Festival 2024It has been released in Brazil and European distribution begins this month. Golden Globe This Sunday marks 2025 and Salles’ comeback film has been nominated for a Golden Globe for best foreign language film and shortlisted by Brazil in the best international film category at the Oscars.
