I’M STILL HERE
(director: Walter Salles; screenwriters: Murilo Hauser, Heiter Lorego, book by Marcelo Rubens Paiva; cinematographer: Adrian Teijido; editor: Affonso Goncalves; music: Warren Ellis; cast: Fernanda Torres (Eunice Paiva), Valentina Herszage (Vera), Barbara Luz (Nalu), Luiza Kosovski (Eliana), Selton Mello (Rubens Paiva), Cora Mora (Babiu), Guilherme Silveira (Marcello), Maria Manoella (Veroca), Marjorie Estiano (Eliana), Olivia Torres (Babiu), Antonio Saboia (Marcelo), Fernanda Montenegro (Eunice Paiva), Pri Helena (Maria), Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha (Nalu); Runtime: 135; MPAA Rating: PG-13; producers: Maria Carlota Bruno, Martine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Rodrigo Teixera; Sony Picture Classics; 2024-Brazil/France-in Portuguese with English subtitles)
“Moving historical drama.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles (“Central Station”/”On The Road”), who personally knew the featured Paiva family, bases the moving historical drama on a heartbreaking true story. It covers some of the 21 years Brazil was under a dictatorship, from 1964 to 1985, and the personal tragedy one family faced. It’s based on the 2015 book by Rubens son Marcelo Rubens Paiva, and is written by Murilo Hauser and Heiter Lorego.
The informative political film recalls in 1970 the disappearance of Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello) at the hands of the Brazilian military dictatorship, as seen through the eyes of his wife and children.
We first see the upper-middle-class Paiva family, consisting of the engineer and ex-congressman Rubens and his wife Eunice (Fernanda Torres), enjoying themselves at the beach in Rio de Janeiro in 1970 during the Christmas season with their five children and live-in housekeeper Maria (Pri Helena).
One day some tough-looking government men appear at the Paiva home and bring Rubens in “for Questioning” about his resistance activities, and he never returns. Eunice is also questioned for days and held in a filthy detention cell before released.
Through the efforts of their oldest daughter, Vera (Valentina Herszage), a movie lover, on a Super 8 camera there are home movies of the family during that period.
The film is anchored by a mesmerizing and elegant performance by Fernanda Torres, as it examines the past with the hope that lessons are learned and Brazil’s troubling history is not repeated.
It took a long time and much effort in the courts to finally get the government to admit their guilt. The film comes at a time when right-wing power grabs are on the increase around the world.
It played at the Venice Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 1/8/2025 GRADE: B+
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