Tropa de elite

Tropa de elite is a very violent film about the BOPE, or elite police troops in Rio de Janeiro. The film tries to have a textured and complicated story, knitting a complex web of stories that stretch from the favelas through a local police precinct and to the BOPE, sending out tendrils through well-meaning university students who are involved in an NGO and smoke plenty of pot. In the end, not one character is redeemed although we are supposed to have some understanding of both Nascimento (brilliantly played by Wagner Moura) and André (André Ramiro).

When the film was released in Brazil, I read with interest the controversy that it raised. Critics didn't know where to fall; the police, of course, hated it. I myself was ambivalent. There is a style that has developed in recent Brazilian cinema that involves voiceover and a certain kind of editing or zooming into images that is bothersome. Daniel Rezende is responsible for a number of these films (including City of God) although I tend to think the choices belong to the directors as this was not such an evident style in Motorcycle Diaries or O ano que meus pais sairam de férias. At any rate, this trend is getting a little worn; it was fun in O homem que copiava and City of God and still okay in the City of Men miniseries but I think Brazilian directors need to move on.

Another thing that bothered me was a bit more nebulous. I guess I thought that the attempts at making a textured portrait still sunk into stereotypes and few grey areas. This was partially because the only character who was somewhat developed was Nascimento himself; everyone else was a type.

In any case, it is not a terrible film but certainly not my cup of tea.