O Que é Isso, Companheiro?

After the dark era of the 1980s - when the only movies being produced locally were, to put it mildly, very erotic - the Brazilian Movie Industry struggled to regain international credibility. And, while "Carlota Joaquina" and "O Quatrilho" clearly paved the way, this is (in my opinion) the production that put Brazil back on the charts. Based on a true story, "O que É isso, Companheiro?" is brought to life by actors who are probably the best performers of the currently generation, and earned an Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. The most amazing aspect of this movie, however, goes unknown by international audiences: two of its main actors (Pedro Cardoso and Luiz Fernando Guimarães) achieved success, in Brazil, through their work as comedians.

This is a truly passionate film about young men and women who fight for ideals that they believe in.

A Brazillian rebel group has kidnapped the American ambassador for Brazil, and demands that fifteen jailed political prisoners be let free. This leads to some tense sequences with Fernando, the most intelligent and cowardly of the kidnappers, and the ambassador (played brilliantly by Alan Arkin).

This could have become a routine thriller. It isn't due to it's intelligence and passion. A very worthwhile movie.

** Even if you're turned off by the idea of subtitles, don't worry. There is a lot of English.

In 1964, the military deposes the democratically elected Brazilian government. By 1969, the military has imposed a police state. Friends Fernando Gabeira and César decide to fight back by joining revolutionaries. The group MR8 is led by Maria. César is captured during a bank robbery. Fernando comes up with the plan to kidnap the American Ambassador Charles Burke Elbrick (Alan Arkin). They seek to exchange him for 15 prisoners.

I like the mix of characters in the revolutionary group. Each character is well defined and fully complete. It's not that much of a thriller despite a few action scenes. It has some psychological aspects. It's really the interactions within the group and with Alan Arkin that is the most interesting.

When the Brazilian Government is overthrown by a military uprising, the result is a dictatorship over the people. With protests violently broken up on the streets, armed struggle is seen as the only solution and leads to the formation of the 8th October group (MR8). Desiring direct action, Fernando and Cesar join the group and are trained in weaponry and the likes. However during a bank job, Cesar hesitates to kill and is shot and captured by the police, while the others flee. It is this that gives Fernando the idea to kidnap the American ambassador in return for the release of 15 captured revolutionaries and bringing the events to the attention of the world. This film tells the story of the four-day hostage situation in the mid-sixties.

I'm not a particularly well-read person and there is a lot of history (even recent history) that I am simply not aware of and this includes the events and times presented in this film. For that reason I cannot really comment on the accuracy or level of detail containing in this telling but what little I have since gleamed from other sources tell me that it is pretty fair and close enough to being accurate. The plot is well told and is made interesting by the attention paid to the people involved in the situation; the drama and tension comes from them rather than false action sequences or stand-offs. The thanks for this should lie with the cast but also with the script that creates the characters and makes them 'real', meaning we find it easier to understand them and feel for the positions they are in. The historical context is well done and I did find it very easy to get engaged in.

The characters are where it is at and they are all very 'human'. We are never made to totally root for them because of what they are doing, but we are helped to understand why they are doing this and how hard it is for some of them to actually turn their words into action. Cardoso does this best and he is the real heart of the film and easily the most sympathetic character. He has good chemistry with Arkin, who does well acting in a foreign film. Torres does well to gradually soften her character as the film goes and it makes her more interesting than she was early on. Support is all pretty good with no really weak performances anywhere but the film mostly belongs to these lead three. The direction is good, capturing the feel of the period early on (where stock footage blends seamlessly into the main film) and producing tension without overdoing the style over substance.

Overall this is a pretty good film, telling a straight story using the characters to drive it forward and involve the audience. The film has tension but it comes from the people involved and the situations they face in the attempts to do the 'right thing'. The script delivers the characters to the actors and the actors are convincing in their delivery, producing an engaging and interesting film that helps deliver historical relevance in a miniature story.

The year is 1969. Brazil is under a brutal military dictatorship. Political prisoners are being held and tortured. In order to get the junta to free some of their comrades, a group of ragtag "revolutionaries" kidnap the U.S. Ambassabor and threaten his life unless their demands are met.

Well-written and tense, the film ably demonstrates the flaws of people trying to fight fire with fire: "an eye for and eye". Alan Arkin is wonderful as the ambassador. His character gives incisive psychological sketches of his kidnappers: fervent and brooding; yearning and lost.

Fernanda Torres and Pedro Cardoso are marvelous as comrades who become lovers by their admittance of how really scared they are.

My subject line refers to a line in the script that aptly describes the bending of the political spectrum at its ends. I'm glad I found this movie.