"Elite Squad", the 2007 Brazilian-produced crime thriller based on the novel “Elite da Tropa” by Luiz Eduardo Soares, André Batista and Rodrigo Pimentel, is directed by José Padilha, starring Wagner Moura, Caio Junqueira and André Ramiro, now streaming on Netflix:
“…’Roberto Nascimento’ (Moura), a captain with the ‘Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais’ aka ‘Bope’ …
“…leads a police crackdown on a series of Rio de Janeiro ‘favelas’ …
“…in-preparation for the Brazilian state visit of ‘Pope John Paul II’.”
Click the images to enlarge..
“…’Roberto Nascimento’ (Moura), a captain with the ‘Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais’ aka ‘Bope’ …
“…leads a police crackdown on a series of Rio de Janeiro ‘favelas’ …
“…in-preparation for the Brazilian state visit of ‘Pope John Paul II’.”
Click the images to enlarge..
- 8/8/2025
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
This article is part of IndieWire’s 2000s Week celebration. Click here for a whole lot more.
On the surface, George Lucas’ “Star Wars” has little to do with José Padilha’s “Elite Squad.” One is a fantastical space opera about princesses and droids, the other is a ‘90s-set thriller about police brutality and institutional corruption. And yet — in Brazil — the two films are bound together by an almost identical cultural footprint. “Elite Squad” is as close to a bonafide Brazilian blockbuster as it gets. Not only is Wagner Moura’s Capitão Nascimento perhaps the country’s most well-known fictional character, but his lines are still quoted to this day, often by people who don’t even know their origin.
The launch of “Elite Squad” in 2007 was an event unto itself. Before the movie could be released in theaters, it was leaked through bootleg DVDs that cost — at today’s exchange rate — approximately $1 Usd.
On the surface, George Lucas’ “Star Wars” has little to do with José Padilha’s “Elite Squad.” One is a fantastical space opera about princesses and droids, the other is a ‘90s-set thriller about police brutality and institutional corruption. And yet — in Brazil — the two films are bound together by an almost identical cultural footprint. “Elite Squad” is as close to a bonafide Brazilian blockbuster as it gets. Not only is Wagner Moura’s Capitão Nascimento perhaps the country’s most well-known fictional character, but his lines are still quoted to this day, often by people who don’t even know their origin.
The launch of “Elite Squad” in 2007 was an event unto itself. Before the movie could be released in theaters, it was leaked through bootleg DVDs that cost — at today’s exchange rate — approximately $1 Usd.
- 8/13/2024
- by Guilherme Jacobs
- Indiewire
The Elite Squad
Competition
BERLIN -- In Jose Padilha's crude and violent film The Elite Squad, the pope is visiting Rio de Janeiro and he needs a good night's sleep, so the local police commander sends his crack troops into the closest slum to kill everybody.
Well, not everybody, but all the drug-dealing scum his specially trained officers can find and by any means possible, preferably a high-powered rifle. It means there will be blood and lots of it, all captured by a dizzying hand-held camera racing through some of the worst cases of urban blight on the planet.
Poorly structured and at times incoherent, what boxoffice appeal the film has will rely on its sheer pace and the amount of torture and killing that goes on, so it should do fine.
The basic assumption of the script by Padilha, Rodrigo Pimentel and Braulio Mantovaniis that everyone in Rio is corrupt, especially the authorities. Policemen accept bribes for whatever pays the most: do their jobs or turn a blind eye. They even steal the engines from their own squad cars, sell them and put a piece of junk under the hood instead.
Capt. Nascimento (Wagner Moura) is a cop with integrity, but it's driving him crazy as he risks his life daily battling bad guys in and out of uniform. Plus he has a pregnant wife at home who wishes he would quit.
He's trying hard to accommodate her wish, but he needs to find a replacement to take over command of the elite squad. Since everyone else has been compromised he settles on two rookies who have been best friends since childhood, the brave but hair-triggered Neto (Caio Junqueira) and the cautious but shrewd Matias (Andre Ramiro).
For some reason their work involves getting second jobs so that Neto works at the police auto shop while Matias goes to law school. Neto's commitment leads him to devise a way of intercepting payoffs drug dealers make to the local commander and using the money to supply the squad cars with desperately needed new parts.
Matias hides the fact that he's a cop from the other students, including pretty Maria Fernanda Machado) and takes no action when they fire up joints.
Both situations lead to dangerous complications, though the story is told in a confusing mix of time-shifting flashbacks, and at the end there's still no sign of the pope.
Before they can join the elite squad, however, Neto and Matias have to make it through an odd sort of training camp that involves ritual humiliation. Then, they're handed high-powered rifles and sent into the slums to kill everybody.
Well, not everybody.
THE ELITE SQUAD
The Weinstein Co.
Credits:
Director: Jose Padilha
Screenwriters: Jose Padilha, Rodrigo Pimentel, Braulio Mantovani
Producers: Marcos Prado, Jose Padilha
Executive producers: Maria Clara Ferreira, Bia Castro, Genna Terranova, Eduardo Constantini
Director of photography: Lula Carvalho
Production designer: Tule Peake
Music: Pedro Bromfman
Co-producers: Eliana Soarez, James D'Arcy
Costume designer: Claudia Kopke
Editor: Daniel Rezende
Cast:
Capt. Nascimento: Wagner Moura
Matias: Andre Ramiro
Neto: Caio Junqueira
Capt. Fabio: Milhem Cortaz
Maria: Fernanda Machado
Rosane: Maria Ribeiro
Edu: Paulo Vilela
Roberta: Fernanda de Freitas
Rodrigues: Andre Mauro
Baino: Fabio Lago
Running time -- 118 minutes
No MPAA rating...
BERLIN -- In Jose Padilha's crude and violent film The Elite Squad, the pope is visiting Rio de Janeiro and he needs a good night's sleep, so the local police commander sends his crack troops into the closest slum to kill everybody.
Well, not everybody, but all the drug-dealing scum his specially trained officers can find and by any means possible, preferably a high-powered rifle. It means there will be blood and lots of it, all captured by a dizzying hand-held camera racing through some of the worst cases of urban blight on the planet.
Poorly structured and at times incoherent, what boxoffice appeal the film has will rely on its sheer pace and the amount of torture and killing that goes on, so it should do fine.
The basic assumption of the script by Padilha, Rodrigo Pimentel and Braulio Mantovaniis that everyone in Rio is corrupt, especially the authorities. Policemen accept bribes for whatever pays the most: do their jobs or turn a blind eye. They even steal the engines from their own squad cars, sell them and put a piece of junk under the hood instead.
Capt. Nascimento (Wagner Moura) is a cop with integrity, but it's driving him crazy as he risks his life daily battling bad guys in and out of uniform. Plus he has a pregnant wife at home who wishes he would quit.
He's trying hard to accommodate her wish, but he needs to find a replacement to take over command of the elite squad. Since everyone else has been compromised he settles on two rookies who have been best friends since childhood, the brave but hair-triggered Neto (Caio Junqueira) and the cautious but shrewd Matias (Andre Ramiro).
For some reason their work involves getting second jobs so that Neto works at the police auto shop while Matias goes to law school. Neto's commitment leads him to devise a way of intercepting payoffs drug dealers make to the local commander and using the money to supply the squad cars with desperately needed new parts.
Matias hides the fact that he's a cop from the other students, including pretty Maria Fernanda Machado) and takes no action when they fire up joints.
Both situations lead to dangerous complications, though the story is told in a confusing mix of time-shifting flashbacks, and at the end there's still no sign of the pope.
Before they can join the elite squad, however, Neto and Matias have to make it through an odd sort of training camp that involves ritual humiliation. Then, they're handed high-powered rifles and sent into the slums to kill everybody.
Well, not everybody.
THE ELITE SQUAD
The Weinstein Co.
Credits:
Director: Jose Padilha
Screenwriters: Jose Padilha, Rodrigo Pimentel, Braulio Mantovani
Producers: Marcos Prado, Jose Padilha
Executive producers: Maria Clara Ferreira, Bia Castro, Genna Terranova, Eduardo Constantini
Director of photography: Lula Carvalho
Production designer: Tule Peake
Music: Pedro Bromfman
Co-producers: Eliana Soarez, James D'Arcy
Costume designer: Claudia Kopke
Editor: Daniel Rezende
Cast:
Capt. Nascimento: Wagner Moura
Matias: Andre Ramiro
Neto: Caio Junqueira
Capt. Fabio: Milhem Cortaz
Maria: Fernanda Machado
Rosane: Maria Ribeiro
Edu: Paulo Vilela
Roberta: Fernanda de Freitas
Rodrigues: Andre Mauro
Baino: Fabio Lago
Running time -- 118 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 2/12/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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