If there is something the media in Brazil insistently refuses to talk about, it's the ethics and neutrality policies of the media itself. Lucia Murat, surely the most competent among post-Military Dictatorship filmmakers in Brazil, raises this debate in "Doces Poderes", in a bold, unique way, with a lot of humor and satirical gags. However, it is not a comedy; it'd rather be called "a soft denounce". A drama, indeed.
Based upon her own colleague's experiences, Lucia (who is also a journalist) tells the story of Bia (Mariza Orth, magnificent), a woman next to her 40's who is nominated to head the news staff of in Brazil's capital, just a few weeks before the local elections. The movie is punctuated by "testimonies" of characters who, unlike Bia, left editorial staffs to work in political campaigns ---- both from right and left-wing, in the most honestly mercenary scheme.
Once in Brasilia, Bia meets again her former lover, Chico Silva (Fagundes, surprisingly good), also a journalist who turned out to be a politician and supports a left-wing candidate. Trying to take chance of her command in the TV news, he pressures her to make a fine coverage for the leftists. Of course, her superiors in the broadcast company want just the opposite. As Bia is placed in the middle of the firing-line, discussions about Ethics, Moral, Ideology and her own relation to other colleagues, are raised up.
After the re-birth of Brazilian Cinema, there has never been such a movie like "Doces Poderes", both in background meanings and delightful entertainment. It pokes, it nudges, it annoys the social system and institutions. And it has an all-star cast! Yet, the mass media and communications vehicles simply ignore it most of the time... and the motives for that reaction are perfectly understandable.
