Fresh off a Best International Feature Film win at the 97th Oscars, “I’m Still Here” offers an introspective look back into the military dictatorship of Brazil in 1971.
The film begins with tremendous color; the sights and sounds of Rio De Janeiro are nothing short of breathtaking. The beaches are filled with life, the streets brimming with music. Director Walter Salles understands momentum and that is shown no better than with the Paivas, a happy family living an idyllic life in Brazil.
Rubens (Selton Mello) and Eunice Paiva (Fernanda Torres) are great parents to their children and similarly have great chemistry. The film exceeds in selling the idea that this family has a perfect life. They have large gatherings at their house with lots of food and dancing and take in a cute dog they found alone on the beach. It is easy to tell these characters have a lot of love for eachother.
However, all this momentum comes to a screeching halt when the father of this family, Rebuens, is forcibly taken from his house and family at gunpoint by the Brazilian government.
Despite the fact that this movie is based on a true story, there is a strong sense of surreality throughout its 138 minute runtime. The question of “How could this be happening to me?” is written on Eunice’s face during all of this.
A similar feeling occurred while watching the 2021 film “The Mauritanian.” It is the true story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a man who was falsely imprisoned for 14 years in Guantanamo Bay. It displays this Kafkaesque reality in which one can be imprisoned based simply on suspicion and nothing else.
Although “The Mauritanian” is darker in content than “I’m Still Here,” it balances this by having a joyous ending.
For “I’m Still Here,” viewers do not walk away with the same feeling. It begins with excitement and energy but ends feeling empty and reflective. It is a movie about memory and the ability to keep the ones we’ve lost alive in our psyches.
It highlights the strength of adapting a true story into a great film. It is one thing to read about the military dictatorship in Brazil from 1964-1985, but it is another to witness a dramatic retelling with talented actors right in front of your eyes.
Film has the incredible power to transport the viewer into a different world. But sometimes, the most difficult task of a film is transporting the viewer into our own world, one in which the truth hurts.
There is pain that comes with watching a movie like “I’m Still Here” because it is so sad, but it is this very sadness that makes it so important.
Throughout the film’s two hours and 15 minute runtime, Eunice’s journey transforms from one in which she is trying to find her husband to one in which she is trying to keep her husband’s memory alive.
It is a special message because the movie itself keeps this memory alive. It educates us while also getting us emotionally involved and fired up about the very injustice present in the world around us.
