*review write in November 2024
Ainda estou aqui (I'm still here) opened in Brazilian cinemas on Thursday, November 7, a symbolic date when, if Eunice Paiva were alive, she would be 95 years old, and what an opportune date and moment, already being cheered and with advance ticket sales (which is unusual for Brazilian films)
In addition, the film is having a wonderful campaign abroad, being praised by specialized critics and elected by popular jury vote in Brazil and abroad as best film in at least 4 major festivals, as well as winning the award for best screenplay at the prestigious and highly regarded Venice Film Festival and with great and real chances of winning the Oscars for best international film, as well as for best actress for Fernanda Torres, best adapted screenplay, best supporting actor for Selton Mello and best editing.
But Walter Salles' film is much more than that, it is bringing audiences back to the cinemas in a frenzy, already number one in attendance and box office on its first day in theaters and with a pride that fills the eyes and that people feel they can say loud and clear “I am Brazilian with great pride, with a lot of love” the film also brings us to a sense of collectivity: many people want to experience and have this moment together in a movie theater, as well as to talk about it outside and share the feelings and emotions that it brings us and will bring us.
A film that introduces us to Paiva family , Rubens and Eunice and their 5 children Vera, Eliana, Marcelo, Babiu, Nalu that connects us with them with their life, with friends, with happy life, with photos and videos a house full of life and affective memories such a beautiful portrait of what makes them so special that makes us feel affection, reciprocity, love, sadness
A film that touches in an inexplicable way even if it is not the melodrama that is expected and that is fascinating
In a restrained but splendid performance by Fernanda Torres that expresses a greatness in her Eunice Paiva that had to be polished in the face of the lacerations that life or rather, a military dictatorship imposed and showed extreme grndity not only to get back on its feet, but to raise its children with dignity and fight bravely so that the memory of Rubens Paiva, his companion, would never be forgotten
Selton Mello makes us love this father, this husband and this man who was Rubens Paiva and that the family's pain over his loss is shared
In conversations with friends and acquaintances from the press, both in the booth and outside it, it was unanimous that there was not a bad performance in the film directed by Walter Salles and that the cast he brought together to tell the story of this family are some of the ones we can mention: Valentina Herszage, Barbara Luz, Luiza Kosovski, Guilherme Silveira, Cora Mora, Dan Stubach, Humberto Carrão, Pri, Helena Marjorie Estiano, Maeve Jinkings, Thelmo Fernandes
The screenplay by Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega is really exquisite in adapting a work by such an important author as Marcelo Rubens Paiva, no wonder he won the award at the Venice Film Festival
Walter Salles is a director who always surprises us in the way he tells stories, whether in films like Central Station, Terra Estrangeira, The Motorcycle Diaries and with his most recent jewel I'm still here that brings a delicacy that excels in not excesses, but where it is least shown, are the ones that are most moving and when in scenes with no or very few dialogues, they touch so deeplyIn addition, the film has a beautiful photography, art direction and editing that are really formidable
Fernanda Montenegro with her acting masterclass is on a level for few of the most loved and most admired illustrious Brazilians in Brazil and the world and she comes in a small special participation that some say could not have been placed but in my view, even if it is a small excess by Walter Salles in honoring two great Brazilian women Eunice Paiva and Fernanda Montenegro delivers us much more than we dream
I'm still here too, it's my breach of protocol in front of the press box that when watching the film after the session has to express few reactions but with a film like this I couldn't contain myself and applaud at the end of the session and which I was followed by several people and again another breach of protocol while waiting for the press conference and before it started when the cast and crew of the film arrived for the photos on the large mural with the poster of the film which they deserve to applaud along with some people who were around before they went on their way to the entrance of the room for the press conference
I'm still here is much more than our nominee for a spot for best international film at the 2025 Oscars, I'm still here is to say that we should not forget our stories, our memories whether they are happy or sad and that we have a worthy representative who is contemplative and beautiful in all his way of being
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