Ainda Estou Aqui (I’m Still Here)
2024
****½
Director: Walter Salles
Cast: Fernanda Torres, Fernanda Montenegro, Selton Mello, Valentina Herszage, Luiza Kosovski, Bárbara Luz, Cora Mora, Maria Beatriz Facciolla, Guilherme Silveira, Antonio Saboia
In January 1971, military forces raid the home of dissident politician Rubens Paiva, leading to his arrest and disappearance. His wife, Eunice, is left to pick up the pieces as she tries to uncover the truth about Rubens and protect their five children from it. Walter Salles’ powerful, fact-based drama sheds light on the horrors of the military regime that ruled Brazil between 1964 and 1985. The screenplay is based on the 2015 memoir of Marcelo Rubens Paiva, one of the children. Fernanda Torres delivers a subtle, dignified, and heartbreaking performance as Eunice, which rightly earned widespread praise. I could have done without the two time jumps at the end.
