The Edge of Democracy

Skilfully merging the political with the personal, The Edge of Democracy provides an interesting insight into the 2014 socio-political crisis which ripped Brazil apart, and paved way for a situation where the country can now slide back into the very oppressive system it fought so hard and for so long to overcome.

Co-written, co-produced & directed by Petra Costa, the documentary establishes her political leanings early on by offering some background context that shaped her worldview and then narrates the events that led to her nation's current state by taking us through the rise & fall of two presidencies. But it isn't an impartial take.

When seen from an outside perspective, the documentary serves as a warning for numerous other democracies around the world whose fabric is both threatened & failing, including my own. Costa allows the plot to unfold at an unhurried pace so viewers can take in all the information but it only manages to be riveting in bits n pieces.

Overall, The Edge of Democracy is an extensively researched & brilliantly narrated documentary but it is also diluted by the filmmaker's own political preference and is going to polarise many. Nonetheless, it does rather well as a cautionary tale and paints an unnerving portrait of the future that's in store when the foundations on which a nation functions are ignored.

This passionately angry doc (with incredible access) proves that partisan politics is a human thing, NOT just a USA thing...and I can't decide if that's a relieving or disheartening.

It's beautiful to get to see a brazilian-produced documentary about brazilians, made with such responsible care throughout decades of filming.

What lacks in this film, I think, are basically two things. Not in production or structure, in any way, but in narrative.

At the same time that Petra's perspective of brazilian society adds to the experience of the movie, like her interesting backstory and presence in important political moments (awesomely shown), I feel like a certain degree of a clearer impartiality would really benefit the story that is told. Of course that, being a personal telling of Brazil's history like this movie is, will inevitably include opinions, which are fairly presented. But I can't help but to think that watching a little more of the other side of the political scandals, against the subjects of the film for example, would really be of benefit - not only to the movie to be it's best and completest version it can be (by showing how complicated "choosing a side" can be), but concomitantly inviting a wider public that can watch and rate it fairly, and discuss more easily by having both sides widely expressed.

The second lacking, in a way, is the proposal of many unanswered questions. Probably it is intentional. Maybe by the fact that the story told in this documentary isn't yet completed in reality, and most of the questions are still unanswerable today; or maybe because of the willingness of the director to portray this political scenery in a personal way, proposing that the narrator wants to show it hasn't means to respond to what will happen. Either way, some answers would enrich, I think, the narrative.

Being a Brazilian myself, with a burning love for cinema, getting impressed by the quality of filmmaking and real moments, portrayed in a production from where I come from, was a really awesome feeling - although this film has a bit too much filming of Brasilia's buildings and beauty-shots. The technical aspects of the film are impressive, even more by the content of rare moments of our recent history - a feeling of "being there" I don't get since watching Poitras' Academy-awarded "Citizenfour".

It's really worth it to watch this film, even if you disagree with the points presented. To admire the handling of a great filmmaker, that has great patience and structure to tell a perspective. This movie is a bright sign in the future of brazilian cinema.

Haters gonna hate. Some people that are rating with the lowest score (I bet most of them didn't even watched the film) just make the point for the foreign audience of how polarized Brazil it is right now. Petra did a great job by condensed the political situation of the country from the last decade with her personal and also analytical view.

The documentary offers a very intimate view on the events surrounding the last decade of Brazil's democracy.

It shows some background on the historical political forces that dominate the country but fails to present a broad perspective of the context. It's clear though that this was never the objective when the narrator presents itself with her views. The documentary does very good at reminding us and offering a more static showcase of the ongoing forces that threatened democracy in an attempt to circumvent investigations and save themselves.

I had more expectations related to the informative content as I'm a native myself and the actual playtime of the documentary being a bit long but i won't say I'm frustrated.

I concluded it's a good resumé for foreign audiences to understand the current events in Brazil and a very intimate display of the effects of a political crysis in a borderline democracy.