IFFK review | Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here' sheds light on Brazil’s dark times of dictatorship

In one of the sequences towards the middle of the Portugese film 'I’m still Here', a group of unknown youngsters suddenly enter the house of the Paivas family. One by one, they shut the windows and doors, plunging the joyful and brightly-lit posh house, into darkness. The dim-lit house instantly becomes metaphoric of the times of darkness where the film is set – the Brazil of 1970s when the Latin American country was under military dictatorship.

Directed by celebrated Brazilian film-maker Walter Salles, 'I’m still Here' is a powerful contemporary cinematic expression against totalitarian regimes. The film captivatingly narrates the story of how the despotic regime turned upside down the life of the Paivas after the head of the family, Rubens Paiva, was abducted by the military government. The film is an adaptation of the real-life story as narrated in a book by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, the son of Rubens.

Rubens is a former Labour Party leader and Congressman. Eight years after serving the parliament, he lives a happy life with his family, comprising wife Eunice Paiva and four children. An engineer by profession, he is also building a new home. The film spends much of its initial sequences portraying the joyful family, living an envious life in the beachside house. They also have a strong social life with peers, including journalists who visit them occasionally. Though the military trucks moving around the city and the strict patrolling at times hints at the uneasiness in the air, we don't have any clue how it is going to affect the family. However, the tone and tenor of the film undergoes a complete shift when Rubens is detained by the military. Father-husband Rubens, who offers plenty of smiles, disappears from the scene, forcing Eunice, an academic who had quit her career to look after family, to take the centre stage. The film progresses with the family’s ordeal under the military rule and the encounter with a sad reality.
The politically-loaded film does not rely on hyperbole at any moment to prove its point. Instead it progresses rather organically even as the Paivas face their ill fate with determination and camaraderie. The realistic sequences showcasing the joy and sorrow of the family find a perfect connect with the audience transcending political borders and language barriers. Extra ordinary performance by Fernanda Torres as Eunice, a woman in search of her husband and a mother protecting her children, drives the film forward, while watching Selton Mello as Rubens on the screen is a joy. With its intense plot, rendered through impeccable acting and story-telling, 'I’m Still Here' easily finds a place among the impressive list of world films that record the agony under tyranny.

(The film was screened at the ongoing 29th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) under the Festival Favourites segment)