Review by claudio_carvalho

The widow piano teacher Lúcia (Andréa Beltrão) and her unemployed teenage son Rafa (Lee Thalor) move to a poor neighborhood in the periphery of São Paulo after the bankrupting of her pension plan. Rafa a.k.a. Pilot tells his mother that he is going to the movie theater with his friend Beto, but they go to a street racing instead in a car that Beto has stolen in the workshop where he works. While seeking the documents, they find a revolver in the glove compartment. When Rafa hits the car of a black man in a maneuver, the man shoots Beto on the chest. Rafa takes the gun and accidentally kills a girl. He is sent to prison and during one visit, Lúcia meets the influent lawyer Ruiva (Denise Weinberg) and they befriend each other. Ruiva, who is one of the head of the criminal organization "Party", offers money to the needy Lúcia; in return, she asks Lúcia to help her in minor wrongdoings, such as bringing illegal stuff to the inmates. Meanwhile the leadership of the powerful criminal organization has internal fights; when they are sent to a maximum security prison, they order rebellions in the prisons and havoc on the streets on the Mother's Day to intimidate the authorities. Lúcia gets a remission to Rafa for this day, but the teenager now has obligations with the Party.

"Salve Geral" is a fictional story based on a true event. On May, 12th 2006, São Paulo was submitted to a violent attack organized by the criminal organization PCC ("Primeiro Commando da Capital" meaning First Command of the Capital). In this date, the criminals killed several police officers; attacked police stations and police cars; set on fire many buses, banks and shops; promoted rebellions in the penitentiaries. The chaotic São Paulo had the greatest traffic jam of its history, with the frightened population trying to return home with reduced public means of transportation. The director and writer Sérgio Resende used these tragic and violent events and the hopeless reality of a city that is hostage of criminals and criminal organization associated to the known corruption to develop a very realistic movie that is surprisingly underrated in IMDb, with great performances highlighting Andréa Beltrão and Denise Weinberg in the lead roles. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Salve Geral" ("General Message")

Note: "Salve" in Portuguese literally means save, but in the criminal slang of São Paulo, it means message.