Elite Squad (2007)

This movie will certainly be seen as another (perhaps good) thriller by most of the non- Brazilian audience. But the movie is not just that, in fact, it's way more than that. Several good thriller movies plenty of violence and shootings scenes have been produced in the last couple decades. But one thing is to inject a lot of money to make a movie on gratuitous violence and rely on special effects to make it get good critics, which then bring the desired money that moves the cinema industry. This is Hollywood, and this is definitely not what Elite Squad is about. The movie has raised and keeps raising important social questions among Brazilian citizens. The way the director tells the story without taking part in any side is genial; contrary to most north American movies, there's no good or bad guy in the story, the situation got to a point where things simply are the way they are. No particular point of view prevails and the viewer gets out of the movie with mixed sensations about what to think about all he sees. Victims of Brazil violence praise Captain Nascimento character to a level of national hero, whereas he ends by being hated by many others who dispraise his ignorance on human rights. There's also a thesis in the movie sustaining that all the violence is fruit of drug commerce, which would exist because the middle and high Brazilian classes buy the drugs to sustain their hedonistic life style. These are the same people that frequent movie theaters in Brazil, create the public opinion, and constitute the Brazilian intellectual society. Therefore – independently of the thesis being right or wrong – the movie somewhat also points the finger to the audience and blames it for all the violence. I think this is also genial, but one has to live there to really feel the whip of this blaming (again, one must have a bit of Brazil culture to really appreciate this movie). While you sit with your popcorn and hope for watching a good thriller, bear in mind that the violence you are seeing in Elite Squad is happening at this very moment, and this is what distinguishes this movie from other violent movies you saw.

Fmovies: Elite Squad has in my opinion surpassed the genius of Cidade de Deus. The movie is shot like a documentary, many times in fact I felt like I was intrigued and interested on how and what the police does to get around the city.

It is basically about the two main characters working their way up the police academy in Rio until they reach the BOPE unit. The training is shown to be very harsh, sometimes even dehumanizing. The movie depicts life of police men in the city and what they do to overcome the unfortunate bureaucracies. I will try hold myself to not say anymore because I do not want to spoil it for you.

This movie is violent. It is not unnecessary violence, because its depictions are said to be accurate. (Rio politicians have spoken about its veracity).

Even the production of this masterpiece was bounded by violence. While in production, part of the crew was kidnapped. An unedited version of Elite Squad together with dozens of fake weapons were stolen as well.

You will be amazed through out the whole film, thats a promise.

Elite Squad is a most see movie. Despite all of the frenesi it's causing all around, it has a good storyline, excellent screenplay and a brilliant performance from all the cast in the movie, especially Wagner Moura who deserves all prizes he can get for this great performance.

Basically the movie explores the fight between drug dealers and corrupt cops against the good policemen's, some of them from the military police force and most of them from BOPE. That's the way the director Padilha's sees this fight which is not entirely true. Although it shows how the corruption of the Military Police Force works out in Brazil, how the system is used against itself and how the bureaucracy makes everything so difficult that it's almost impossible for honest people to deal with their own personal issues without dealing with corruption. And by the way, that's entirely true.

The baseline of the movie is the story of Nascimento's, who is the captain of BOPE (Special Forces Operations Battalion) which can be compared to SWAT. Nascimento needs a replacement and he needs to find the right person, someone who has all of the qualities the job demands. Two guys come up to be this person but none of them have all it takes. Neto has the attitude, the heart, but he's not smart and centered as he's best buddy Matias. The only thing they have in common which is mandatory for the job is the honesty and the will of changing things for the better.

The movie has all the elements that makes us go to a movie theater. It has a storyline, it has action thriller, and it has a great performance from the cast, all of them.

If you are planning to spend your money in another blockbuster, don't do it! Give a chance to this great movie that explores the WAR that we, from Rio de Janeiro, have to deal with everyday. It's not only about the fun you are going to have watching this peace of work but the truth you are going to see on it.

Elite Squad fmovies. If you loved City of God and Carandiru, you have to see this movie. Maybe it's the most complex Brazilian movie about violence. It combines a discussion about the problem of violence in Rio de Janeiro, the police corruption and the society responsibility and, what is more important, Elite Squad is a terrific thriller: nervous, intriguing and entertaining. Cinema at it's best.

Bráulio Mantovani, from City of God, wrote the screenplay and Daniel Rezend, also from CDD, is the editor (Both nominated to the Oscar).

Above, one article about the film:

"WASHINGTON (Reuters Life!)

characters lie dead in the street within minutes of the opening of Brazilian director Jose Padilha's new film which he hopes will shed new light on gang violence and police corruption in his country.

"Elite Squad," which Padilha wrote with former Rio police officer Rodrigo Pimentel, follows two young Rio de Janeiro police officers as their fantasy of implementing law and order disintegrates into bloodshed and corruption.

It details night raids through the makeshift homes of the city's hillside slums known as favelas, as well as the stark class differences that feed an appetite for riches among many of its poor residents.

Padilha, 39, said he had originally hoped to use the information he received from Pimentel for a documentary but quickly realized that it would not be feasible.

"How would I do this, go to corrupt cops with cameras?" he asks. "If I tried to make this film as a documentary, it would probably get me killed." Padilha, whose highly-acclaimed debut film "Bus 174" about a real-life bus hijacking in Rio was released in 2002, has strived to make the film as realistic as possible, shooting much of the film on the favelas' narrow streets.

"Elite Squad" is based on Pimentel's account of his tenure as captain of Rio's elite police force which has come under attack by Amnesty International for brutality.

Like "Bus 174," it exposes the darker elements of Brazil that contrast vividly with the nation's colorful, extravagant Carnival celebrations."

"Tropa de Elite" isn't merely one more Brazilian film on urban violence; it's a cathartic socio-cultural phenomenon of almost unprecedented proportions in Brazil, the omnipresent theme on TV talk shows, newspapers articles, bars and dinner tables. Prior to its theatrical release this October, "Tropa" was seen by an estimated record 11 million people who bought pirate DVD copies or illegally downloaded it on the net (the biggest Brazilian box-office success in the last 25 years was "2 Filhos de Francisco" with 5,5 million tickets sold).

The reaction is passionately polarized: some call it the best Brazilian movie since "City of God" -- a definite influence here, in the cinematography, editing and screenplay structure, with an omniscient narrator and use of mixed chronology -- exposing the endemic corruption of Rio de Janeiro's police force and the "unorthodox" methods used by BOPE (the self-called "incorruptible" elite squad of Rio's military police force, created in 1978 and inspired by the U.S. SWAT) that include torture and shoot-first-ask-later modus operandi in the ultra-violent, ever-growing drug war in Rio's favelas. Others have publicly attacked it as fascist in its glorification of BOPE, its sadistic depiction of torture and the reductionist, simple-minded vision of the complex issues involving violence/ drugs/police corruption in Rio.

Director José Padilha and co-writer Rodrigo Pimentel (a former BOPE captain who left the squad for disagreeing with its praxis) had collaborated in the extraordinary "Bus 174", a multi-faceted documentary on Rio's violence. In "Tropa", they controversially chose to give us a deliberately biased vision of the problem: from the start we're stuck with one man, the overstressed, rebellious, self-righteous Capt Nascimento (Wagner Moura) in his journey into becoming a psychopathic sadist and hot-blooded killer, who believes drug traffic is caused by the druggie middle-class bourgeoisie (as if the poor didn't do drugs!) and claims the solution is to kill all traffickers. To Nascimento, corruption is abominable; torture isn't.

Nascimento is the film's absolute protagonist, narrator, commentator and "truth-puker". In his mind, all non-elite policemen are corrupt and incompetent, all charity NGOs in the favelas are cover-up fraudulent enterprises, all college students are useless double-faced potheads, and legal procedures are an inefficient waste of time. He's nearer to the traffickers' violent, revenge-based, lawless ethics than he's ever able to realize.

"There's nothing wrong with shooting people if you shoot the right people", used to say Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry back in the 1970s, and it could well be Capt. Nascimento's motto. He's a vigilante in uniform, in the tradition of the executioners played by Eastwood, Bronson, Stallone and 24 Hours' Jack Bauer; he's the heir to the 1970s' Brazilian military regime know-how on torture. Yet, the film tries hard at "humanizing" Nascimento: his wife's pregnant, his marriage falters, he's moved to tears by the suffering of a mother who lost her son in the traffic war, he's in medication for his panic attacks. AND he's trying to save the POPE's life, no less!

All the other characters are just rough sketches or caricatures. The one character who might be the classical "narrator/observer" (like Bu

Kinetically filmed, "Tropa de Elite" reaches the dizzying heights of Fernando Meirelles' "Cidade de Deus", as not so much as a photocopy but more as a cinematic twin brother. Film focuses on the brutal, abet necessary foundations of Tropa de Elite, a one hundred strong company of men who swings into action when normal police gets held up themselves. Intense amount of corruption and violence is present here, however brilliantly fleshed out characters lifts the film from being trite after the 1000th gunshot.

The film being presented in two parts, we are indulged into an extended prologue to get acquainted with the protagonists: Captain Nascimento, feeling the stress as a 0-1, is on the lookout for a substitute between André Matias, a law student cum policeman struggling with his own identity and Neto, the ideal candidate as his replacement who's violent and relentless to a fault. Accompanied by a sometimes distracting voice over, the audience is given proper time to find themselves immersed in the narrative and characters. Even if the film's screenplay explodes every second of its almost 2-hour running time, personality development is not left on the back seat, to much relief.

Andre Ramiro's performance as André Matias is pitch perfect. Practically the film's moral backbone, he elucidates the distinction between pretending to know and knowing. The best scenes in the picture not involves scenes of brazen violent explosions but his rationalizing and character driven moments. The film uses his character to deter the judgmental audience from pretending to know but reminds them they know nothing.

Padilha is in control of the film until its very last shot; able to summon his own elite squad of cinematographers and sound technicians. The production values are top notch indeed, as the cinema also explodes with every bang and boom. Filmed in cinema verite, it gathers up inspiration from previous war-themed films – from the tones and hues of the mentioned "Cidade de Deus" to Alfonso Cuaron's blood splatter on the screen technique from "Children of Men". With the sound and images pushing the audience to its nauseating edge, full immersion is delivered without breaking a sweat.

Comparison to "Cidade de Deus" should be complementary, as "Elite" tackles the impotent depiction of policemen by the former. In fact, it acts as its contemporary, acting as if it exists on the same universe. It demands merit in its own right though, as the film is well staged like its depiction of training the elite, making it an involving exercise, not seen since Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket".

Immersive, hypnotic and engaging, "Tropa de Elite" guarantees Padilha to be noticed on a more mainstream circuit. Previously delivering "Onibus 174", also tackling the same themes of nurture and consequence as a catalyst to violence, he is able to comment on sensitive themes without being too preachy and also able to wrap it in a well produced package. Film is definitely an above average fare and is essential to be experienced on the big screen, just for its sound design alone.