02/09/2024 - VENICE 2024: Walter Salles’ compelling family drama zooms in on the disappearance and murder of a former congressman and civil engineer, as lived through by his courageous wife

It’s a perfect, sunny day, and it’s late afternoon. On a sandy beach, kids are playing, while the sea is calm, bossa nova music blares out and a rich dinner awaits everyone. The youngsters seem to be having fun, dreaming of leaving this beautiful place they’ve been living in for 20 years, yet which they’re still attached to. This apparently idyllic scenario opens Walter Salles’ new feature, I’m Still Here [+see also:
trailer
film profile], playing in the main competition of this year’s Venice Film Festival. We’re in Rio de Janeiro between 1970 and 1971. While the wealthiest and most highly educated part of the country’s society seems to have nothing to worry about as long as they mind their own business, there’s a silent majority going through hardship. However, the former, the lucky few, are falling victim to the tightening grip of the military dictatorship. Everything is so fragile, and things could change any moment – most likely for the worst.

This is the backdrop for this picture, penned by Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega, where a family tragedy and the courage of a woman take centre stage. One day, former congressman and civil engineer Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello) receives a sudden visit from a few men who force him to leave his home and go to a military police barracks to answer “a few questions”. Rubens disappears, and the military police later arrest both his wife, Eunice (Fernanda Torres), and their daughter, Eliana. Eliana is sent back home the next day, and together with her four siblings and their maid, she waits for news of her parents. After quite some time – and after going through some harsh physical and psychological torture – Eunice is released, but this is only the start of a downward spiral and legal battle which will inevitably shake up the whole family.

For this film, Salles decides to take a gamble on Torres and her complex portrayal of Eunice. It’s a very successful choice, as the actress manages to play her over the course of 25 years with great depth, delivering a highly credible performance. Her willpower and her mood swings, prompted by the stress she goes through and her new role as the breadwinner, are probably some of the character’s key personality traits. The finely tuned script, in which the dialogues are dry and never overdramatic, enhance this aspect.

Throughout the film, we get a sense of what it was like living under the dictatorship, even in the few scenes that aren’t directly linked to Paiva’s disappearance – in one of them, for example, a joyful car ride turns into a brief nightmare once the driver and the passenger are asked to undergo a simple check that subsequently escalates.

What’s more, despite the early-1970s setting, dictatorships and tyrants aren’t a thing of the past, which makes I’m Still Here a very timely work. It reminds us why freedom should never be taken for granted, and does so without falling into rhetorical traps. On a side note, to date, the five military police officers accused of Paiva’s murder still haven’t been prosecuted.

The least convincing choice is perhaps the presence of a “double” ending – the first set in 1996, the second unfolding in 2014. While both sequences are well staged and add something meaningful to the story of the Paivas, the 2014 part feels like a rather unnecessary addition, which could have been effectively summarised with some on-screen text.

That said, I’m Still Here is a solid family drama shedding light on a shameful page of Brazilian history. Its careful aesthetic – the highlights of which are Adrian Teijido’s superb cinematography and Warren Ellis’s spot-on score – and its unflinching lead make it a powerful cinematic experience.

I’m Still Here was produced by Brazilian outfits VideoFilmes and RT Features together with French firm MACT Productions. Goodfellas is in charge of the pic’s world sales.