Contra Todos

Brazilian films often get more positive appraisals than they actually deserve. Rather incredibly, Contra Todos (Against Everybody) (original title, which the producers discarded: God Against Everybody) got very low GPA (grade point average) in this website. It seems to be bluntly rejected by female spectators at large. Actually, it is not so brutal. I mean as far as graphical violence is concerned. Its brutality is intrinsic as it portrays would-be lumpens, I mean underdog citizens who in fact possess high-tech equipment, who coldly perform murder orders in exchange of "grana graúda". Is this post-modern man? Is his/her only worry a quick, almost impersonal, ultra permissive lay, amidst over satiating meals ? The picture is probably the best Brazilian film of 2004, so far. Its shining editing style, à la Godard, its curious soundtrack counterpoints, its more than efficient overall cast and, above all, its original narration, with subtle non-chronological hidden points that only come to light in the epilogue, deserve at least a 6 mark.

We always watch American movies with their particular accents from each region (south, west, etc). We have the same here. All foreign people must to watch this movie and need to have a open mind to accept another culture, besides American and European almost dominate the cinematographic industry.

This movie tell us about a parallel world which it isn't figured even for those who live in a big city like São Paulo. All actors are improvising and they are very realistic. The camera give us an idea of their confuse world, the loneliness of each character and invite us to share their world.

It's a real great movie and worst a rent even have it at home.

"Contra Todos" (Up Against Them All) is the directing feature debut of Roberto Moreira, and was produced by Fernando Meirelles (the Oscar-nominated director of "City of God"). Both films deal with urban violence within poor communities on the "wrong side" of Brazilian big cities (a huge favela in Rio de Janeiro in "City of God", a VERY dysfunctional family in the low-life outskirts of São Paulo here), but there the similarities end. While virtuoso "City of God" is a cinematic dazzler in almost every aspect, claustrophobic, ponderous and pessimistic "Contra Todos" has major problems that render audience adhesion very difficult.

In the DVD extras of "Contra Todos", director Moreira explains that, though the script outline was prepared in advance, most of the dialog and situations were created as a result of improvisational exercises with the cast. Well, it certainly shows! What we see here is a filmmaker fascinated by the "Ackt-ing process", letting his actors indulge in narcissistic show-offs ("feeeeeel-ing", "thiiiiink-ing", shouting, crying, re-Ackt-ing, etc), while clumping the story with clichés, forced twists and loose ends. The improvisational modus operandi has worked wonders for a few experienced filmmakers like Godard, Fellini, Mike Leigh, Altman, John Sayles and even a talented "beginner" like Fernando Meirelles himself, but Moreira is not (yet) in that league.

"Contra Todos" has some qualities -- it's undeniably honest and heartfelt -- but is drowned in problems, especially the lack of interest those grim, repulsive characters inspire in the audience, the totally unbelievable denouement, and Moreira's complete lack of humor or irony. Furthermore, "Contra Todos" suffers from that ghastly disease of camera tremula, poor video quality, a three-buck budget and unimaginative music.

Don't watch this if you're not into shaky hand-held camera, graphic realism, and the VERY depressing side of the human soul, or if you're looking for something to cheer you up. Do watch this if you are a film student interested in knowing more about recent Brazilian films (but you can certainly see better ones than this) or are curious about improvisational acting: you'll see decent jobs by Sílvia Lourenço, who plays Soninha with evident élan (although she is too old for the part), and especially Ailton Graça, who plays Waldomiro with wholesome presence and effortless charisma (as he had already shown in "Carandiru"), making the film a little warmer every time he's on screen.

A shaky hand-held camera was used, presumably to give the film a documentary look, but the effect was so exaggerated that I started to get motion-sickness just from watching it. It looked like someone with cerebral palsy was holding the camera (no offense meant to CP sufferers, but I don't think you would expect to get much work as a cinematographer!) The camera work was so nauseating, and so distracting, that my wife and I considered it unwatchable and gave up on it after 10 minutes of torture. I checked back a while later (it was showing on TV), and it hadn't gotten any better. I suggest giving this one a miss unless you need to get rid of any bad sushi you may have eaten!

In the periphery of São Paulo, the very low middle-class dysfunctional and hypocrite family of Teodoro (Giulio Lopes), Cláudia (Leona Cavalli) and the teenager Soninha (Sílvia Lourenço) have deep secrets. The religious Teodoro is indeed a hit-man, hired to kill people in the neighborhood with his friend Waldomiro (Ailton Graça). He has a lover, the very devout woman Terezinha (Martha Meola), and he wants to regenerate, going to the country with her. Cláudia has a young lover, Júlio (Ismael de Araújo), who delivers meats for his father's butcher shop. Soninha is a common sixteen years old teenager of the periphery, having active sexual life, smoking grass and loving heavy metal. When Júlio is killed and castrated in their neighborhood, the lives of the members of the family change.

"Contra Todos" is a great low budget Brazilian movie that pictures the life in the periphery of a big Brazilian city. The story is very real, uses the usual elements of the poor area of the big Brazilian cities (drug dealers, hit men, fanatic religious evangelic people, hopeless teenagers etc.), has many plot points and a surprising end, and the characters have excellent performances, acting very natural and making the story totally believable. The camera follows the characters, giving a great dynamics to the film. In the Extras of the DVD, the director Roberto Moreira explains that his screenplay had no lines, only the description of the situations, and was partially disclosed only one week before the beginning of the shootings. The actors have trainings in workshops and they used lots of improvisation, being the reason for such natural acting. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Contra Todos" ("Against Everybody")