campaigns<\/a> and, subsequently, not many fans or detractors. They are made every year, and every year, Oscar viewers say, \u201chuh, never heard of that one.\u201d This year, \u201cI\u2019m Still Here\u201d was likely the most neutral contender for the Best Picture Oscar. Yet, it is also one of the most raw and horrifically revealing films to hit theaters in a very, very long time.<\/p>\nThe dictatorship of Brazil in the early 1970s has been mostly brushed over in the canon of\u00a0Hollywood historical dramas. Amid this vast collection of overtly horrific films, \u201cI\u2019m Still Here\u201d has made a big splash. At the Oscars, in addition to the film competing for Best Picture, leading actress Fernanda Torres (\u201cThe House of Sand\u201d) was nominated for Best Actress \u2014 the very award her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, was nominated for 26 years ago. Together, the Torres women are the only two Brazilian actresses to ever receive nominations. The recognition that this film is receiving is an ode to the power of Brazilian storytelling, which seeks to honor the people oppressed by the Brazilian Armed Forces.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The film follows the true story of Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello, \u201cA Dog\u2019s Will\u201d), an ex-congressman who was kidnapped and murdered in 1971 when a military dictatorship controlled the government of Brazil. Though the plot of the film centers Rubens\u2019 disappearance, the audience watches the story through the perspective of his wife, Eunice, played by Torres, who shows the impact of this tragedy on their family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brazilian director Walter Salles (\u201cCentral Station\u201d) opens the film by inviting viewers through the Paivas\u2019 front door and into their family home in Rio de Janeiro. Teeming with life and joy, the vibrant tone of the film leaks through the seams of every shot. Salles shows the day-to-day lives of the Paiva family: lounging on the beach, relaxing with friends and roaming around their neighborhood. Each of the Paivas\u2019 five children fills the story with energy and chaos, fitting with the image of a large, happy family. It is difficult to watch the opening without smiling at the innocence and realism of the Paivas. Yet, it is even more difficult to ignore the looming disaster, warning the audience of what is to come.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nThe power of \u201cI\u2019m Still Here\u201d is that the whole first act, portraying the innocence and beauty of this family, feels like a countdown. Not one moment feels permanent. The first sign of trouble comes in the form of military vehicles intruding into this tropical paradise, evoking a sense of\u00a0restlessness that is anything but subtle. In a moment of peace, we see Eunice swimming in the ocean, floating on her back, until a large helicopter flies by and disrupts her solace. We then see soldiers roaming the streets, receiving worried looks from Eunice. <\/p>\n
The first act echoes the breath that the Paiva family is forced to constantly hold during the dictatorship, but it also reflects the false hope Eunice and Rubens held, convincing themselves that their lively family could avoid the cruelty of their government. In an attempt to shield their children from fear, they refuse to address the dictatorship surrounding them until it is almost too late. One day, the Paivas\u2019 eldest teenage daughter, Vera (Valentina Herszage, \u201cAs Polacas\u201d), goes on a drive with her friends and is forced out of her car and searched by Brazilian policemen. After this, Vera is sent to London with family friends, who are themselves fleeing Brazil, a moment which serves as the final and greatest hint of the danger to come. This marks a turning point in the narrative, when the threat of the government can no longer be ignored.<\/p>\n
All these warning signs, however, do not make the inevitable disaster of the second act an ounce more bearable when it arrives.\u00a0On Jan. 20, 1971, when the dictatorship raids the Paivas\u2019 house and Rubens Paiva is taken under accusations of conspiracy, the audience is put in the mind of Eliana (Luiza Kosovski, \u201cA Heran\u00e7a\u201d), Rubens\u2019 daughter, who is only 15 years old when she is taken from her home and imprisoned for 24 hours; <\/strong>it also puts us in the position of Eunice, who sits in that same prison for 12 days with no knowledge of her daughter or her husband\u2019s location. While Eliana and Eunice return to their house \u2014 the one that had once let anybody through its doors \u2014 they find that Rubens never came home.<\/p>\nThe audience is never shown the ways that Rubens was tortured and killed. Once he walks out that door, Rubens is never seen again \u2014 not by the audience, not by his vast community in Rio and not by his family. The pain lies not just in his disappearance but also in the many days that follow with no answers, leaving Eunice and the children to wonder if Rubens is ever going to return.<\/p>\n
During the third and final act, the film jumps forward 25 years, as Eunice dedicates her life not to seeking revenge but to finding closure for the husband she lost. Due to the complex political state of Brazil, Eunice did not receive Rubens\u2019 death certificate until a full 25 years later \u2014 25 years to wonder if her husband was somewhere in the world, 25 years to remember their life so quickly lost. Perhaps the most telling sign of this loss is the change that has occurred in the family since that fated day. Marcelo (Antonio Saboia, \u201cPrivate Desert\u201d), the Paivas\u2019 only son, who was only 11 in 1971, is now 37. Marcelo, who was once filled with energy running around the Paivas\u2019 home, is now in a wheelchair and visiting his mother in her small apartment. Salles highlights these differences to emphasize what Rubens never got to witness or be a part of. Yet, he is constantly in the minds of the Paivas as they continue to honor his legacy in each of their respective careers. Standing for the resistance her husband was once reprimanded for, Eunice has become a lawyer who defends the rights of Indigenous people. Marcelo becomes one of the most notable writers in Brazil, whose work tells the story of his father\u2019s injustice at the hands of the government.\u00a0<\/p>\n