Greetings again from the darkness. True stories are often at the heart of many movies each year. However, there are true stories and then there is the story of the Paiva family. Marcelo Rubens Paiva has written two books, which along with numerous interviews with family and friends, serve as the basis for this film from famed Brazilian director Walter Salles (THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES.2004). The screenplay comes from co-writers Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega.
Unless you are a history scholar, it's highly unlikely you can recite the various Latin America dictatorships and military coups over the past decades. Yet you surely know they have happened, and that many innocent people and families have been victimized. The Paiva family is one example, and their story is gut-wrenching. The film begins in Rio de Janeiro in 1970 when military rule was in place. Director Salles affords us plenty of time to get to know architect Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), his wife Eunice (Fernanda Torres), and their five kids. Theirs is a happy family living a pleasant and comfortable life ... gatherings on the beach, music and dancing, family meals and photos. In one moment, the happiness fades and things change forever.
A group of men show up to escort Rubens (a long-ago local Congressman) in for a deposition. He smiles and tells the family that he will be back soon. The saga of this family is torturous to watch. Eunice and her oldest daughter are soon taken in and held for questioning in what appears to be some type of prison or military facility. They learn Rubens is accused of being a communist. Eunice's return home is a beautifully filmed sequence, as it's nighttime and the kids are sleeping.
The next morning's reunion is touching, yet now the reality has hit for the older daughters. Eunice kicks into strong woman mode to protect her "babies". The story shifts significantly here since the wage earner is gone. Eunice sells the house and the family moves to Sao Paulo. Eunice handles the extreme stress, continues caring for her kids, and never stops trying to find out about Rubens.
The journey of Eunice could easily fill a movie, however, Salles chooses to jump ahead 25 years (to 1996) and then again to 2014, when the family is together and wheelchair bound and Alzheimer's stricken Eunice is played by 95-year-old Fernanda Montenegro (Oscar nominated for CENTRAL STATION, 1998), the real-life mother of Fernanda Torres. During these segments, we figure out what an impressive woman Eunice is and how much she has accomplished through determination. It's likely a death certificate has never been more valued or more pursued than the one Eunice finally receives. We also see her son Marcelo is now physically disabled, yet becoming famous as a writer.
Director Walter Salles knew the Paiva family quite well when he was young, and his personal connection shines through in this ode to a family shattered by political turmoil. Fernanda Torres delivers a stunning performance with more emotional depth than just about any other acting performance we've seen this year. Salles details that more than 20,000 citizens were tortured and held captive over these years, and via the closing credits he runs archival photos and a recap of history. Seeing the stress and turmoil of a previously happy family is not an easy watch, yet perhaps the accomplishments of Eunice help offset some of the pain.
