Marighella (2019)

Had the pleasure of watching this movie during 2019's Sydney Film Festival, followed by a Q&A with director Wagner Moura.

Even though it's a long film (2h35), it keeps you on the edge of your set for the entire time. Extremely well written and a fenomenal effort from first time director Wagner Moura, "Marighella" manages to draw a bit of laughter despite dealing with heavy and dark subjects (the brazilian dictatorship years).

Seu Jorge, as per usual, gives the audience a fantastic performance, overshadowing weak and tacky acting from some of his peers, like Bruno Gagliasso.

Moura made the conscious decision of focusing the narrative on the characters personal nuances and lives, instead of delving into historical details about the dictatorship period. The director had the help of Marighella's relatives during the production.

"Marighella" also invites us to reflect about the use of violence during revolutions - is it or is it not necessary? Can we really be the judges of that?

The last scene of the movie gave me shivers. In Brazil's current grim political and social crisis, this movie is an absolute must watch for everyone who still denies the horrors of totalitarian regimes.

Fmovies: Saw this at the Berlinale 2019, where it was part of the official Competition, for some reason marked "out of competition" hence no candidate for awards. Entertaining, despite the troubles I have with heroism as demonstrated here, implying ample risks for family, friends and accidental bystanders. Of course, such downsides of activism can all be deemed collateral damage, regrettable but necessary and unavoidable for The Cause (with capitals). When countering activists, The Powers that Be (TPtB) go to every imaginable length, often much further than we see here, to achieve their goal of fighting "terrorists", thereby disregarding the sacrafices and aftermath they cause on their turn. Escalation on both sides lurks around the corner, bearing logical and unavoidable consequences.

Having said that, the fights and the successive phases the struggle gets into, are visualized very well in this movie. There are enough recognizable protagonists to feel along with the activists. A point this movie makes very well is that we are invited to reciprobably feel along with those tasked to fight them. Both parties use every means to their disposal, whereby the anti-revolutionaries are just a bit nastier than the revolutionaries. The revolutionaries may have our sympathy given the overreach of power coming from the state, but to throw a bomb into a police station or a government building, as we saw happening, is a sure way to kill innocent people. So, the activists are only marginally less nasty than their enemies who incarcerate, torture and kill as standard tools-of-the-trade to achieve their goal.

History may have proven these activists correct in hindsight. We, fully aware of the outcome, can easily be convinced that the activists were indeed Good, and those fighting them were Bad (or at least Ugly). There are similar issues with the WW II period when judging people afterwards. More than one perfect illustration of this phenomenon can be seen in the movie Never Look Away / Werk Ohne Autor (2018), written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. It makes us inspect our current opinions: who is with-us or against-us or something in between. Initially, the genre label "Action" on IMDB was too limited, but it is deservedly replaced later by "Action Drama History", as the movie has more to show than just heroic activism.

All in all, thought provoking elements embedded in the story make this movie more interesting than reading the synopsis did assume beforehand. Each coin has two sides. Who is "good" is only clear in hindsight, which is easy for us but not that easy at the time. On the other hand, a superficial viewer can easily be lured into the trap of heroism from the side of the activists, and dismiss the reactionary forces as bad or even criminal. Such rapid conclusions do not show this movie the respect it deserves.

This movie is one of a kind in so many aspects. First, it tells an important story about a movement that resisted the dictatorship in Brazil from 1964 to 1985.

Sadly, it is also remarkable by being one of the first movies target in this new cyberwarfare sponsored by the alt-right in Brazil. The movie has a few reviews in IMDB (written by actual people), yet it has a very low score. The score has less to do with the quality of the film, and more with the story it tells. It bothers a lot of fundamentalists in the far-right in Brazil to have a movie that tells an uncomfortable truth about the recent history of an authoritarian country that tries hard to portray itself as a nation of kindness and liberty.

Marighella fmovies. It's not really a 10/10, but it's a gripping movie which tells an important story that is especially relevant in a world that is flirting more and more brazenly with fascism.

For those who think this movie serves as propaganda, that is simply not the case. The main characters aren't glorified or lionized, at least not to the standards of the genre. They're distinctively human and they commit some terrible actions. Their flaws and mistakes aren't hidden, but they are given a context that allows you to comprehend the situation.

The acting is stellar and it's very easy to forget that the main character is a well-known singer. In fact I found myself questioning several times whether it was really Seu Jorge, or if it was perhaps only his brother.

I did feel like some scenes didn't flow that well into each other and that is my main criticism. The two and a half hours flew by very quickly due to how intense it is and I honestly wouldn't mind an even longer version that flows a bit more naturally.

It's a powerful and moving film. Heads up for Wagner Moura.

This is an important story in the history of Brazil, passionately told via expert filmmaking and excellent actors. It's brutal at times because we know that the horrible acts perpetrated in the film really happened, and that there are those who would silence the film even now makes it more important that it be seen. A remarkable film on all accounts.