Where as the excellent Oscar winning movie the City of God was purely the perspective of the drug dealers in the favelos of Rio de Janeiro and how they effect the poor people around them, this is about the law enforcements view, especially the elite ‘B.O.P.E’ police squad that have to go in ... Read review
ELITE SQUAD (TROPA DE ELITE) is an intense and astonishing look at Rio de Janeiro's ... more
notorious favelas, the volatile slums on the edge of the city. The film is set in 1997 and presents an intimate look at the city's vast and intricate web of corruption.Drug trafficking militias have virtual control within the favelas while the police run their criminal enterprises outside. The elite BOPE force (State Police Special Operations Battalion) combats drug trafficking -keeping order has its price though and their actions make it difficult to distinguish right from wrong and justice from revenge. BOPE Captain Nascimento (Wagner Moura) is facing a crisis: in addition to the pressures of fighting within war zones, the Captain must find and train his own replacement so he can escape the day to day violence and be close to his wife who is about to give birth to their first child.Two of the force's newest recruits, Neto (Caio Junqueira) and Matias (Andr Ramiro), are childhood friends: one is quick on the trigger to maintain order and the other refuses to compromise his ideals. Together they are the perfect replacement. Alone they may not have what it takes to survive.Directed by Jos Padilha, (BUS 174), and written by Padilha, Academy Award nominated writer Br?ulio Mantovani (CITY OF GOD) and Rodrigo Pimentel, comes the controversial film ELITE SQUAD (TROPA DE ELITE). It is based on accounts from Pimentel's 19 years as a military police officer and BOPE Captain.
ELITE SQUAD (TROPA DE ELITE) is an intense and astonishing look at Rio de Janeiro's ... more
notorious favelas, the volatile slums on the edge of the city. The film is set in 1997 and presents an intimate look at the city's vast and intricate web of corruption.Drug trafficking militias have virtual control within the favelas while the police run their criminal enterprises outside. The elite BOPE force (State Police Special Operations Battalion) combats drug trafficking -keeping order has its price though and their actions make it difficult to distinguish right from wrong and justice from revenge. BOPE Captain Nascimento (Wagner Moura) is facing a crisis: in addition to the pressures of fighting within war zones, the Captain must find and train his own replacement so he can escape the day to day violence and be close to his wife who is about to give birth to their first child.Two of the force's newest recruits, Neto (Caio Junqueira) and Matias (Andr Ramiro), are childhood friends: one is quick on the trigger to maintain order and the other refuses to compromise his ideals. Together they are the perfect replacement. Alone they may not have what it takes to survive.Directed by Jos Padilha, (BUS 174), and written by Padilha, Academy Award nominated writer Br?ulio Mantovani (CITY OF GOD) and Rodrigo Pimentel, comes the controversial film ELITE SQUAD (TROPA DE ELITE). It is based on accounts from Pimentel's 19 years as a military police officer and BOPE Captain.
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Advantages: Good perspective on Brazils crimewave Disadvantages: One-sided
...law enforcements view, especially the elite ‘B.O.P.E’ police squad that have to go in there to sort them out, Brazils very own SAS, adorned with a licence to kill. They don’t mess around like we do in South London and if your dealing and the B.O.P.E are on an operation then you get shot up, simple as.
In 2008 this became the biggest film in Brazil before it was even launched after master tapes got out and were quickly pirated, illegal ... ...few black Brazilians at the elite Rio University, judged lower class by his fellow students as a matter of course, and not wanting to reveal he’s a cop either to add to the stigma, many of his left wing tutorials not complimentary to the law. But its here he is drawn into this Brazilian white elites world, falling for sexy NGO worker Rosane (Maria Ribeiro), who runs a charity in the slums for helping street kids, the same slum the BOPE will soon ... more
Where as the excellent Oscar winning movie the City of God was purely the perspective of the drug dealers in the favelos of Rio de Janeiro and how they effect the poor people around them, this is about the law enforcements view, especially the elite ‘B.O.P.E’ police squad that have to go in there to sort them out, Brazils very own SAS, adorned with a licence to kill. They don’t mess around like we do in South London and if your dealing and the B.O.P.E are on an operation then you get shot up, simple as.
In 2008 this became the biggest film in Brazil before it was even launched after master tapes got out and were quickly pirated, illegal copies soon flooding the whole city, 2.4 million of its eventual 4 million audiences seeing an illegal version, making it the unofficial hit of 2007. The tapes weren’t the only thing stolen, the crew suffering some serious theft and violence for not getting the permission of the local drug lord to film.
The films appeal was universal across Brazil, a clever twisting tale of the countries social classes’ attitudes towards drugs and the hypocrisies that throws up. On one hand Brazil’s middle-class rely on the police to keep the favelos and drug dealers at bay, on the other hand the same well healed class snort cocaine and smoke pot, yet berating the police, the good ones and the corrupt ones, for their fascist brutality towards those very favelos and street kids that get the drugs for them. The war on drugs rages on because of that duplicity in Brazil and the body count keeps rising. This movie uses the true story of the Popes visit to Rio to highlight that complex dynamic amongst the people of Brazil, B.O.P.E. having to ‘make it safe’ for the Pope to stay in the chosen hotel in the favelos, the Popes stance of unity to all people of Rio admirable but also knowing the cops would have to ‘remove’ the street kids and dealers for his visit…
-The Cast-
Wagner Moura ... Capitão Nascimento Caio Junqueira ... Neto André Ramiro ... André Matias Maria Ribeiro ... Rosane Fernanda Machado ... Maria Fernanda de Freitas ... Roberta Paulo Vilela ... Edu Milhem Cortaz ... Capitão Fábio Marcelo Valle ... Capitão Oliveira Fábio Lago ... Claudio Mendes de Lima 'Baiano' Bruno Delia ... Capitão Azevedo Marcelo Escorel ... Coronel Otávio
-The Plot-
We begin with honest cops Neto (Caio Junqueira) and Matias (André Ramiro) having an unscheduled trip deep into the Favelo, off limits for regular police officers like them, but armed with a snipers rifle, preparing to shoot at a group of corrupt cops and dealers, before we flash back six months to find out how they got to this desperate position. Half a year before we meet them again, Matias a student of law working as a beat cop to pay the bills and Neto a career rookie, brave but stupid, both dumped in the mechanic shop to cannibalise parts to fix police cars, not quite what they had in mind when they joined up.
There commanding officer, Capitão Fábio (Milhem Cortez), is corrupt, as many of the low paid police officers are in Brazil, everyone under pressure because the Pope has decided that he wants to visit Rio, but not stay in a palatial hotel but sleep in the slums with his people, which means an operation is underway to make that possible. So enter Capitão Nascimento (Wagner Moura), the head of BOPE, tasked with cleaning up the slum for the visit but also under personal pressure as he tries to find his replacement. The BOPE are a ruthless and highly rained bunch and take no prisoners and he needs the right man for the job.
Law student Matias is one of very few black Brazilians at the elite Rio University, judged lower class by his fellow students as a matter of course, and not wanting to reveal he’s a cop either to add to the stigma, many of his left wing tutorials not complimentary to the law. But its here he is drawn into this Brazilian white elites world, falling for sexy NGO worker Rosane (Maria Ribeiro), who runs a charity in the slums for helping street kids, the same slum the BOPE will soon be cleansing, her office part funded by local gangster 'Baiano' (Fábio Lago) and on his rules and woe betide if they break them, but Rosane and friends not impartial to smoking the very drugs that bring chaos to the favelos and young kids. Matias has to stand back as a cop to suffer this middle-class hypocrisy at the university but when all of our main protagonists meet in a violent juxtaposition of class prejudice and police corruption he’s a good man to have in the trenches.
-The Conclusion-
This is good stuff, simple and effective film making, dramatic and engaging, a reasonably balanced look at the dance with the devil between drugs and the police, control of supply not victory what it’s all about. The hypocrisy of the rich needing drugs yet shunning the poor who bring them to their door is interesting where as the Pope storyline, although based on actual events, is seriously under used. But with enough tension and action for the boys the film moves along nicely and you say fair enough, I’ve been entertained.
The acting is particularly strong and the brooding Wagner Moura as Capitão Nascimento is fabulous, as is André Ramiro as André Matias. City of God seemed to invigorate Brazilian film and this has taken up the torch, the director giving the punters what they want, more of the same but with a different angle, not quite the cinematography genius of the City of God but still atmospheric. But what this is is solid foreign action film in what can be a flat genre. If you liked City of God then this is for you.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Imdb.com scores it 8.0 out of 10.0 (15,089 votes) RuN-TiMe 115 minutes 2 films for 2 nights for £5 at Blockbusters = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Advantages: Great movie Disadvantages: You have to read the subs to understand
If you have watched the Movie City of God and liked it, you'll definitely like this one too. One of the best movies i ever saw...if it had been produced in Hollywood it probably would win an Oscar...the Brazilian movie industry is definitely evolving. If you have enjoyed City of God or felt like something was missing on it, then this is the movie you need to see. Everything here is placed respecting the reality... Scenes are very realistic and all ... ...It shows how policemen are involved with criminals and how many policemen are not involved at all and get blamed by society due to some bad fruits. It shows how family can get affected how two guys with same purpose can get trapped in two different situations.. And shows how a man can be changed by the environment that simply leads him to do what he must. ...
otiynomed 23.10.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Elite Squad (DVD)
The captain of the state police force faces pressure from within and without, as he seeks his own replacement so he can devote his time to being a father instead of fighting the seemingly impossible battle against crime.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
OPTIMUM HOME ENTERTAINMENT; ELEVATION SALES; TECHNICOLOR DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
Languages
Main Language
Portuguese
Subtitle Language
English
Technical information
Aspect Ratio
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital
Professional reviews
Review
[Performances] are suitably intense (Variety, 13/06/2008)
DVD Description
After the success of the documentary BUS 174, Jose Padilha directs this drama set in Rio de Janeiro's favelas in 1997. The captain of the state police force (Wagner Maura) faces pressure from within and without, as he seeks his own replacement so he can devote his time to being a father instead of fighting the seemingly impossible battle against crime. ELITE SQUAD (TROPA DE ELITE) is based on the experiences of one of its screenwriters, Rodrigo Pimental. Padilha and CITY OF GOD's Braulio Mantovani also earn credit for the script.
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