All is not well in the streets of Rio de Janeiro. After the BOPE (Military Police of Rio de
Janeiro State) violently squelches an inmate uprising at the Bangu 1 penitentiary,
lieutenant colonel Roberto Nascimento (Wagner Moura) is promoted to sub-secretary
of Intelligence at the public safety department. He has his work cut out for
him, as drug cartels have turned the city’s slums into a warzone. He also has sworn enemy in History teacher
and staunch liberal Diogo Fraga (Irandhir Santos), who witnessed the BOPE’s
violent methods at Bangu 1 firsthand.
Incensed, Fraga becomes a state representative Hell bent on exposing
corruption in city government. He also
marries Nacismento’s ex-wife Rosane (Maria Ribeiro), becoming stepfather to
their son.
Nascimento’s efforts to eliminate the cities drug traffic
prove all too successful. The constant flow of dirty money that corrupt
cops have long become accustomed is cut off, prompting them to begin taxing all
forms of illegal activity in the slums.
With the help of the governor, Corrupt BOPE Major Rocha (Sandro Rocha)
becomes the biggest crime boss in all of Rio.
The disillusioned Nascimento is forced to take stock of the beast he
helped create. When he finally sets out
to destroy it, he finds that his allies are few indeed. He fighting both a personal and professional war
and he can’t afford to lose ground in either arena.
In the last decade, Rio de Janeiro has served as the setting
for a number of violent dramas, most notably the brutal City of God and the outlandish Fast
Five. Elite Squad: The Enemy Within is more in the tradition of the
former, though it possesses the latter’s forward momentum. It comes billed as a semi-fictionalized
account of the real life BOPE. Fully
aware of the seriousness of its subject matter, Jose Padhila’s thriller aims to
be more than just an action flick set in an exotic locale.
The film contains its fair share of shocking, bloody
violence. That being said, the carnage
never feels excessive or exploitive.
This is mostly because the action, while intense, is used
sparingly. Unlike his American
counterparts, Padhila does not seek to assault his audience with sensory
overload. Even at their most exhilarating,
none of the set pieces veers off into the apocalyptic or the fantastic. The scale remains on the conservative side.
Also unlike Fast Five,
Padhila does not linger on the exoticism of his locale. There are no loving close ups of beautiful, scantily
clad Brazilian women and their backsides.
There are a few fleeting moments of revelry and celebration, most of
which showcase the corruption of the antagonists. That’s not to say that the inherent vibrancy
and color of the city is sacrificed. To
the contrary, Rio teems with life. The
audience gets a sense of the everyday people that live there, though the film
keeps them on the periphery. The actions
of these cops and crooks affect the quality of life in this city, and Elite Squad never loses sight of that.
Cinematographer Lula Carvalho successfully apes the pseudo-documentary
style of modern American cop shows. Most of Elite
Squad: The Enemy Within it appears to have been shot with a hand held
camera. The dreaded “Shaky-cam” is also
employed during the action scenes, though it’s kept on a relatively tight
leash.
Wagner Moura gives a focused performance as Nascimento. He and writers Padhila and Bráulio Mantovani
do a good job of painting a balanced picture of a hero that is reluctant to
accept the truth. He remains sympathetic
even after it becomes clear that his detractors aren’t necessarily wrong about
him. The only minor quibble I have is
with the villains of the piece, particularly the exceedingly corrupt Major
Rocha. Rocha is seen mainly through the
scope of a handful of heinously violent acts.
He feels more like a symbol of the rampant corruption in Rio de Janeiro
than an actual character. Sandro Rocha plays
him with conviction, but he’s not allowed enough screen time to be as fully
fleshed out as Nacimento.
Elite Squad: The Enemy
Within is the kind of action film that America very rarely makes. It says a lot that a film as violent and
rebellious as this one could become an all-time hit in its home territory. It forces viewers to confront a very real and
immediate problem in their own government.
Yet, it sacrifices none of its entertainment value. Mass entertainments need not be mindless
escapism. They can actually be bold,
politically conscious works.
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