Oscar-worthy performance: Fernanda Torres as Eunice. Photo / supplied
Oscar-worthy performance: Fernanda Torres as Eunice. Photo / supplied
Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best International Feature at the impending Academy Awards, I’m Still Here is a powerful, impeccably acted true story of how even society’s most privileged can be destroyed by military dictatorship.
It begins with a gorgeously vibrant depiction of a middle-class family enjoying lifebeside the seaside in 1970s Rio de Janeiro. The post-coup d’état political situation initially feels somewhat removed as civil engineer Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), wife Eunice (Oscar nominee Fernanda Torres) and their three daughters and son Marcelo enjoy long days at the beach and jaunts to the ice cream parlour. But Rubens, a former congressman who recently returned to Rio after years of self-imposed exile, is secretly engaged in supporting those in opposition to the government. While he appears untouched by the state’s oppressive machinations, one day an unexpected visit steals Rubens away and tears the family apart.
Respected Brazilian director Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries, On the Road) has crafted a tense story heavy with foreboding but beautiful with astonishing period detail. At the story’s centre is the incomparable Torres, who plays Eunice as a strong, gracious and smart wife, who insists the regime’s lackeys stay for lunch as they await her husband’s return.
Torres is only the second Brazilian in the Academy’s history to be nominated for an Oscar. Her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, was nominated in 1998 for Salles’ breakout Central Station (she appears here as older Eunice).
I’m Still Here isn’t just a beautifully acted, well-paced drama but a fascinating history lesson (and perhaps, in these times, a cautionary tale). When Eunice and her daughter are themselves taken in to “help with inquiries”, our hearts are in our mouths. The gut-wrenching reality of a seemingly civilised country only half a century ago is terrifying.
Salles has adapted the Paiva’s real-life story from the memoir written by Marcelo, which explains the odd detail that would seem a strange narrative choice were it not based on fact. This truth makes the film even more gruelling – as well as an admirable portrait of one woman’s 40-year commitment to justice.
Rating out of five: ★★★★★
I’m Still Here, directed by Walter Salles, is in cinemas now.
