The Brazilian production I’m Still Here is the new success of the movie screens. The movie, directed by Walter Salles, gained a great recognition not only in Brazil, but worldwide — something the Brazilian cinema is not used to experiencing. For the first time, a movie produced in Brazil had three Oscar nominations: Best Movie, Best Foreign Movie and Best Actress (Fernanda Torres).
The movie not only moved the movie theaters, but social media and awards shows. All of that was just possible as a consequence of years and years of production, plot preparation, and the performance of stars such as Fernanda Torres and Selton Mello, who won the world with this new movie.
Based on a true story, the film portrays a period in Brazil — from 1964 to 1985 — when a dictatorial government was in power. The plot presents the life of a family from Rio de Janeiro, where Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello) was kidnapped and tortured by the military for his alleged involvement in acts of dissent against the dictatorship. As a result, Eunice Paiva (Fernanda Torres) and her children live the drama of their father’s disappearance, and during the story they fight for justice and answers.
The feature film conveys a lot of feelings and strong national representation, delicately portraying such a turbulent period in Brazilian history in an affective and emotional way. The closeness that the movie creates with the viewer is so strong that it makes them experience all the feelings with the family, be it happiness, love, sadness or even anguish.
To transmit this emotion to the audience, several aspects need to work together. The production, acting, music, scenery and emotional scenes, when they are in tune and well selected, convey the sentiment to those watching. It’s not every movie that manages to keep all this in tune with the audience, but when it does, as in this case, it completely changes the viewer’s experience.
I’m Still Here being a movie that carries and overflows feelings with the public, shows how powerful Brazilian cinema can be. There is still a very misconstructed view of Brazilian productions, with pre-judgments that are made outside and inside the country. In this way, the film becomes a reference for new storylines, opening up more and more space for new successes and visibility for the national audiovisual sector. This attracts audiences and investment, giving strength, good structure and space to the Brazilian film industry.
In addition to its influence on the cinematic universe, this film can also be identified as a token of national memory and culture. In a society where part of its history is constantly hidden and erased, films like I’m Still Here make reflections about the past and how it affects our present and our future.
The story of Rubens Paiva and his family is very similar to thousands of other Brazilians, who until this day haven’t recovered from the consequences of the Brazilian dictatorship. Having such a representation on national and international screens is like a message of hope and resistance.
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The article above was edited by Isadora Mangueira.
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