HOME |  CULT MOVIES | COMPETITIONS | ADVERTISE |  CONTACT US |  ABOUT US
 
 
 
Newest Reviews
American Fiction
Poor Things
Thunderclap
Zeiram
Legend of the Bat
Party Line
Night Fright
Pacha, Le
Kimi
Assemble Insert
Venus Tear Diamond, The
Promare
Beauty's Evil Roses, The
Free Guy
Huck and Tom's Mississippi Adventure
Rejuvenator, The
Who Fears the Devil?
Guignolo, Le
Batman, The
Land of Many Perfumes
Cat vs. Rat
Tom & Jerry: The Movie
Naked Violence
Joyeuses Pacques
Strangeness, The
How I Became a Superhero
Golden Nun
Incident at Phantom Hill
Winterhawk
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Maigret Sets a Trap
B.N.A.
Hell's Wind Staff, The
Topo Gigio and the Missile War
Battant, Le
Penguin Highway
Cazadore de Demonios
Snatchers
Imperial Swordsman
Foxtrap
   
 
Newest Articles
3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby
Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD
La Violence: Dobermann at 25
Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-ray
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray
Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray
State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray
The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder
The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray
Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray
Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. on 4K UHD
A Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVD
Chaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray
The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on Arrow
A Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray
You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray
Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray
Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray
Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI
The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray
Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray
Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray
Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray
What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow
Keeping the Beatles Alive: Get Back
   
 
  Elite Squad The Lines Are Blurred
Year: 2007
Director: José Padilha
Stars: Wagner Moura, Ciao Junqueira, André Ramiro, Maria Ribeiro, Fernanda Machado, Fernanda de Freitas, Paolo Vilela, Milhelm Cortaz, Marcello Valle, Fábio Lago
Genre: Drama, Action, ThrillerBuy from Amazon
Rating:  6 (from 1 vote)
Review: In most countries, you would expect the users of firearms and automatic weapons to be the military, but in Rio De Janeiro this is not the case, for the majority of guns are in the hands of the criminal gangs as they wage their own war against the police. How can the law combat this when the gangs have run rampant through the slums? They usually fall back on the city's elite squad, the BOPE, and armed unit of policemen who are there to provide backup to the cops when they cannot cope. Captain Nascimento (Wagner Moura) is one of those men, but he wants out for the sake of his pregnant wife, though with the Pope's 1997 visit approaching, the heat is being turned up...

Elite Squad, or Tropa de Elite as it was originally known, was a sensation in its native Brazil where bootleg copies flooded the streets yet it still became the biggest hit at that country's cinemas for that year. Comparisons with the earlier, but still fairly recent City of God were soon to follow, yet where that film was impressively stylish in its telling, here the story was presented as plainly as possible, with the constant threat of violence supplying much in the way of tension. Yes, there were action sequences to rival any traditional thriller of the day, but it was the regretful view of society that really made its mark.

There are three main characters, the aforementioned Nascimento and two new recruits to the BOPE, one an idealist called André Matias (André Ramiro) and the other Neto (Ciao Junqueira), who is eager to get his hands on a rifle and start shooting the bad guys. We soon see who is best suited to the world of Rio's criminal underground. The director, José Padilho, initially intended for this film to be a documentary to complement his earlier film, Bus 174 which took the gang members' point of view, but then found out all too quickly that what the cops said to him off camera was not what they would admit to on camera.

Therefore a fictional work, based on actual experiences (one of the writers was a policeman), was made, and there is an authenticity to the drama which unfolds that has you believing that things really are as bad as they say here. Not that the characters are especially likeable, with Nascimento a borderline psychopath even if he is supplying us with our near-constant narration to guide us through his world. He ends up so stressed by his job that he has panic attacks and sees a psychiatrist who puts him on medication, though by the end he thinks the only cure for his anxiety is to quit as his wife says, or to kill some people he feels are worse than him.

All with official backing, of course. Nascimento has to choose between Matias and Neto as to who can be his successor, and this involves either going with the man who is as violent as he is, or corrupting the man who is there for the right reasons but can be twisted to become one of those trigger happy hard men who he wants his squad to consist of. So in a melodramatic manner this is a battle for Matias' soul, as Nascimento seems to be past saving; the younger cop is training to be a lawyer but makes himself unpopular at university by voicing his faith in the police. We see that crime even reaches the higher classes who make up most of Matias's fellow students, who are all happy to fund the gangs with their insatiable cannabis habits, but the cumulative effect of this does not fill you with righteous anger and a drive to change this society, but a deadening of hope as you realise that nobody has any answers. And with every scene, from a romantic dance to a shoot out, filmed pretty much the same way, Elite Squad becomes sadly monotonous and dispiriting. Music by Pedro Bromfman.

[The Optimum Region 2 DVD has a trailer and an interview with the director as extras.]
Reviewer: Graeme Clark

 

This review has been viewed 5032 time(s).

As a member you could Rate this film

 
Review Comments (0)


Untitled 1

Login
  Username:
 
  Password:
 
   
 
Forgotten your details? Enter email address in Username box and click Reminder. Your details will be emailed to you.
   

Latest Poll
Which star probably has psychic powers?
Laurence Fishburne
Nicolas Cage
Anya Taylor-Joy
Patrick Stewart
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Yeoh
Aubrey Plaza
Tom Cruise
Beatrice Dalle
Michael Ironside
   
 
   

Recent Visitors
  Stuart Watmough
Paul Shrimpton
Darren Jones
Mary Sibley
Enoch Sneed
Mark Le Surf-hall
  Louise Hackett
Andrew Pragasam
   

 

Last Updated: