Walter Salles’ indrukwekkende verfilming van de memoires van Marcelo Rubens Paiva laat niemand onberoerd. En dat is zeker ook te danken aan de nu al onvergetelijke acteerprestatie van Fernanda Torres (voor een Oscar genomineerd, Golden Globe al in de pocket). Het verhaal over de dictatuur in Brazilië vanaf de jaren ’60 laat een familie zien die het goed heeft in Rio de Janeiro. Ze wonen recht aan zee. Tot alles verandert.
De idiotie, het vervreemdende van dictatoriale machtssystemen brengt Salles rustig en kalm naar het grote doek. Door enkel op dat ene gezin te focussen wordt dat begrijpelijk en onbegrijpelijk tegelijkertijd. I’m still here laat vooral een vrouw zien die onverzettelijk is, met een kracht in zichzelf om te zorgen en om te overleven.
In English: Walter Salles’ impressive film adaptation of Marcelo Rubens Paiva memoir leaves no one unmoved. And that is certainly thanks to the already unforgettable acting performance of Fernanda Torres (nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe already in the pocket). The story about the dictatorship in Brazil from the 1960s shows a family that is doing well in Rio de Janeiro. They live right by the sea. Until everything changes.
Salles calmly brings the idiocy and estranging effects of dictatorial power systems to the big screen. By focusing only on that one family it becomes understandable and incomprehensible at the same time. Above all, I’m still here shows a woman who is unyielding, with a strength within herself to be able to keep taking care and to survive.
Based on the memoirs of Marcelo Rubens Paiva, I’m Still Here tells the true story of the disappearance of his father, former congressman Rubens Paiva, during the Brazilian military dictatorship in the 1970s. The lives of Rubens Paiva’s wife Eunice (Oscar nominee Fernanda Torres) and their five children change abruptly, and forever, after the disappearance. The new film by Walter Salles (Central do Brasil, The Motorcycle Diaries) nominated for 3 Oscars. Director Walter Salles (Central Station, The Motorcycle Diaries, On the Road) is back as a fiction director after a long time and, with this powerful portrait, makes his first film in 16 years in his native country Brazil, where the film became an outright box office hit. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival and actress Fernanda Torres won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in the ‘Motion Picture – Drama’ category for her role.