How the movie I’m still here represents Brazilian history and demonstrates the role of Art for memory and reflection about the past.

The energy in Brazil is not only Carnival’s vibe but almost a World Cup mood on the day before the Oscars Ceremony. In this 97th edition of the cinematography event, the Brazilian picture I’m Still Here, directed by Walter Salles and starring Fernanda Torres, can win two of the most prestigious awards: Best Actress and Best Picture. 

The success and international repercussions of the film about the Brazilian military dictatorship period have lightened up once again the importance of Art for the memory and reflection about the past. Sergio Schargel, Political Science researcher from Federal Estate University of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), highlights the historical part of Art in the counteroffensive during more authoritarian times.

Brazilian nominations 

The film is based on real facts during the Brazilian military dictatorship in the 70s. I’m Still Here tells the story of Paiva’s family and how it was emotionally destroyed when its father Rubens Paiva, a former congressman, was abducted by the regime.

The Oscar nominated performance of Fernanda Torres is interpreting the role of Eunice Paiva, who spends the entire movie trying to find her husband. Eunice became a symbol of the fight against the military regime as she worked for the Human Rights of the missing people. Later on, Eunice also started working as an environmental layer and became a symbol of the indigenous cause.

Torres, however, is not the first Brazilian woman to be nominated in the category – and not the first Fernanda. More than 20 years ago, in 1999, her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, also achieved this honor and was nominated for her role in Central Station, from the same director of I’m Still Here, Walter Salles.

Get to know more about actress Fernanda Torres starring in Salles’ new picture in Julia De Moraes Custodio‘s article.

Luiza Lusvarghi, Audiovisual and Cinema researcher from the Estate University of Campinas (Unicamp), emphasizes Salles’ ability to capture the historical period and the family life of the Paiva’s. “The picture has all the qualities that pleases awards like the Oscars, which are totally aimed at the audience and the market, it is an industry award”.

She explains that the engagement in the social media with the movie represents a sign of a profitable success, once people are going to watch it. According to Sony Pictures, more than 4 million people have already watched I’m Still Here only in Brazil and raised more than  U$ 13 million. 

Brazilian past and present 

The British journal, The Guardian, listed reasons why the movie should win the Oscar for Best Picture. One of them is how a past story connects itself with global and present political questions involving authoritarian regimes.  

Moreover, it not only connects with worldwide scenarios, but, specially, with Brazilian political situation. Currently, the former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, is being accused for planning a coup attempt on the January 8th of 2023. 

The researcher Schargel points out how Bolsonaro has always sympathized with the military period in his speeches and has maken it real the “ghost of dictatorship” with the antidemocratic acts of 2023. Besides that, despite the huge success, the film still confronts a historical revisionism of this time that tries to erase this part of Brazilian history. 

“There is an emptiness of the work as an aesthetic piece, including from people who are self considered nationalist, that attack the film because it breaks with their vision of what the military dictatorship would have been”, Schargel analyses. On the other hand, in his opinion, the movie reception – with international nominations and awards – shows a counteroffensive, even if limited, still important, against a global advance of the far-right. 

Historical memory

I’m Still Here portrays a violent period of Brazilian past through the family point of view. The Audiovisual and Cinema researcher Luiza from the Estate University of Campinas (Unicamp), explains how the picture moves the audience as the narrative becomes more emotional from the family relations. “The subjectivities allow a direct identification between the audience and the character, which could have been a neighbour or a teacher”.

In that way, even with some critical and revisionist reaction, Schargel believes that Salles’s work was able to burst social and political bubbles as it became an agenda of dispute. This discussion helps not only to understand the importance of the movie but its role for the public and political memory in Brazil, according to Schargel. 

The Oscars Cerimony will take place in Los Angeles on March 2nd. Brazil will run for three categories Best International Feature Film, Best Picture and Best Actress.

_{Featured image: Cinema NOS}