Walter Salles' I’m Still Here won Best International Feature Film at last year’s Oscars. It also scored nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress (Fernanda Torres, who’s magnificent here). Having finally just watched it, I don’t think it’s the best of all the nominees (I was pulling for Conclave). But it just might be the scariest, partially because it’s a true story, but also…well, more on that in a minute.
The film opens in 1970, when Brazil is a dictatorship following a military coup d’etat a few years earlier. Seemingly out of the blue, civil engineer and former congressman Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello) is taken away for questioning. So is his wife, Eunice (Torres) and one of their daughters. Eunice is imprisoned and interrogated about her husband’s involvement in aiding revolutionaries. She knows nothing and is soon released, as is their daughter. Rubens, however, is never seen again.
Most of the middle act focuses on Eunice’s attempts to learn where Rubens is being held (or if he’s even still alive), as well as the long-term financial and emotional toll the incident has on her family. Storywise, the latter is especially affecting because the first act does a masterful job revealing the idyllic life this close-knit family had before being devastated by the actions of the regime. Eunice demonstrates inspirational amounts of resolve, not only regarding sacrifices taken to care for her children, but exposing what really happened to Ruben. The latter ends up taking a couple of decades.
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As I said, I’m Still Here is also pretty scary, mainly because it’s unfortunately timely in light of recent events…at least as I see it. On this site, we try to remain apolitical, since nobody comes here for our take on current events. But while watching this, I couldn’t help but be reminded of ominous events happening in my own country, where a certain leader with oligarchical aspirations is using both military and deputized forces to target perceived enemies without due process. And just this week, it resulted in the death of an innocent woman.
Or am I just being an alarmist? I don’t know…maybe. But the fact remains that some unnerving parallels can be drawn between events in I’m Still Here and what we’re seeing in the news. So for this writer, this makes the film more than just another period piece.
EXTRA KIBBLES
FEATURETTES - Characters and Actors are both very short, consisting of cast interviews and scenes; Interviews is similar and runs a bit longer. Considering the accolades the film has gotten, you'd think more substantial bonus features would be included..png)
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