I'm Still Here: A Review

I’m Still Here  (Currently playing Original Portuguese with VOA Cineplex Forum VOA/Original Portuguese with STF Cinema Beaubien and Cinema Du Parc)

Dir Walter Salles

Staring: Fernanda Torres, Selton Mello

Runtime: 138 Mins

*Nominated at This year's Academy Awards: Best International Film (Brazil), Best Actress (Fernanda Torres), Best Picture 

     It takes time for some Oscar-nominated films to get around to Montreal. I think it has to do more with having both releases of the French and English versions at the same time, either dubbed or subtitled. I’m Still Here is finally seeing an official release in Montreal and is the second film in the international category that I have caught up with, the polarizing Emilia Pérez being the first. The official submission by Brazil, the film is set in three sections. Starting in the 1970s when Rio De Janeiro was under a military dictatorship, then moving to the 90’s and present day. The film takes the point of view of the Paiva family going through politically and socially shifting times. This is based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva's memoir of the same name and directed by Walter Salles.  Legacy and memory are explored through photographs and home movies. 

    It is seen as a happy home for Eunice (Fernanda Torres) and her husband Ruben (Selton Mello), who live their life near the sea with their four girls and one son. Ruben is a former leftist politician who was ousted by a 1964 coup d’état, now as an engineer he is critical and dissident of the politics of the regime. In secret, he returns to his civil career on the side supporting expatriates, unbeknownst to his family.  The house is a coming and going of friends with dinner parties in between. However we see the military dictatorship in full effect when one of their daughters and friends are stopped at a checkpoint, and they are interrogated. During this period in time, the military was accused of going blind and shooting indiscriminately. This leaves both parents to think it would be best that she stayed with friends of the family in London after an affectionate going away party. The kidnapping of a Swiss ambassador by the far-left revolutionary movements leads to looming political instability. 

    In January of 1971, things changed in the household when a military raid of the Pavia house led to the arrest and disappearance of Ruben. Ruben is thought of as an enemy of the state for delivering letters to labelled terrorist organizations.  Eunice's public enquiries about Rubens’ whereabouts lead to her arrest and torture for 12 days. Ellena, their teenage daughter, is also imprisoned but released after a 24-hour period. Enuice returns and must take on multiple roles in the house as she continues to raise her family, but also never stops demanding the truth to the whereabouts of her husband. She must also discover the man who she thought she knew, and his endeavors helping his expatriates. With the house’s formative memories now rocked with tragic ones and an inability to keep up with the financial and upkeep Eunice decides it’s time for the family to move from their home and start a fresh life and career. Around the same time a moderate media outrage by the family and friends, Enuice is unofficially informed about Ruben’s fate. Eunice, along with many others, refused to stand by and watch a protected system of false news designed to cover up unlawful lies and crimes committed by the military and government. 

    The film closes with two epilogue sections. In 1996 Eunice, currently living in the city of São Paulo which is now a democratic state, received from Brazilian State Ruben’s official death certificate. In 2014 the family reconvenes for gathering, Eunice in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease is surrounded by her children and grandchildren. While watching a news segment on television about the National Truth Commission discussing Ruben’s case triggers a distressed Eugine to remember her past. Ruben’s murder took place at DOI-CODI headquarters between the 21st and 22nd of January 1975. The five people identified as responsible for his murder were never prosecuted.  Graduating at the age of 48 from law school Eunice became one of few experts on indigenous rights and served as consoler for the Federal Government, The West Bank and the United Nations before her death in 2018 at the age of 89. 
    The approach of director Walter Salles to tell this story from the family’s point of view is a different showcase in the lines of Roma from Alfonso Cuarón. Both films deal with a maternal figure trying to keep the family unit together despite the turbulence of the world outside going through revolution upheavals while keeping the family unit the primary lens focus always in view.  In I’m Still Here some poignant ways the family unit is kept together through the memories of Super 8 film footage, photographs, and letters. Those are the keepsakes that keep the memories of the ones we love and lost along the way alive in spirit. Even if that person was not the person we remember from their past secrets or being labelled in an unfavorable way by their own government, they might be the unsung hero in the challenging times.  A strong contender in this year's Oscars for Best International Film and Best Actress for Fernanda Torres, who took home a Golden Globe this year for Best Actress in a Drama, with Mikey Madison from Anora looking like another prominent frontrunner in the category.

Remi co-host’s  At The Movies, which can be heard every Tuesday morning from 8:00 - 9:00AM. Tune in for discussions about movies, soundtracks, and iconic film scores. At The Movies also covers film festivals that are located in Montreal.