I'm Still Here - Film Review

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Director Walter Salles has produced an evocative and sprawling biography of an extraordinary woman whose family was ripped apart by Brazil's military dictatorship of the 1970s. I'm Still Here dramatises the real-life story of Eunice Paiva (an exceptional Fernanda Torres), mother of five and wife of Rubens (Selton Mello), an engineer and former congressman who is one day led away from his Rio de Janeiro home by the military. What follows for Eunice is a years-long quest for answers about her husband's detention.



For a film about abduction and life under military rule, I'm Still Here is, somewhat incongruously, an often gorgeous looking film. Salles effectively evokes the feel of the 1970s through music, fashion and set design. Opening images show Eunice and Ruben's five children at the beach, swimming and playing volleyball. Across the road in the busy house they all live in, it's made clear that Eunice and Rubens are dedicated and loving parents. We see family gatherings, soccer games on the street and the children running back and forth to the water.

But this serenity is sometimes interrupted by helicopters flying overhead or military trucks roaring along the beachfront road. Eldest daughter Vera (Valentina Herszage) is delayed returning from a night out with friends after being stopped and searched at a military checkpoint. TV news relays the latest on the abductions which pervade the country.

Rubens and Eunice are aware of the precarity of living in Brazil. They are well-off (they are in the process of building a new house) and their circle of friends includes intellectuals and dissidents. Some warn Rubens to flee while he can. But Rubens insists on staying (though he does allow Vera to study in London). Eunice, unaware of the contents of the cryptic phone calls Rubens receives in his office, agrees that the future will be better.

But everyone's worst fears are realised when armed men show up and take Rubens in for questioning. Eunice and 15-year-old daughter Eliana (Luiza Kosovski) are later also taken in for interrogation. Eliana is quickly set free; Eunice endures longer in prison before being released. Back at home, Eunice must look for answers about Rubens' disappearance while tending to her family.

The film later jumps to 1996 and 2014, presenting the full scope of Eunice's life story. That story is brought so vividly to life by Fernanda Torres, who offers a wrenching and convincing portrayal of a strong woman who must suddenly become someone else. It's an outstanding performance, captivating to watch. And it's buttressed by some other excellent turns, notably Selton Mello as Rubens, the sure and confident man perhaps hampered by naivety. All of the children also deliver remarkable acting.

Salles is working with solid source material here - Eunice's life was nothing short of extraordinary. But Salles imbues his film with resonance in the way he has chosen to tell the story. He does it by showing that Eunice was a woman who bore the scars of the dictatorship's oppression but was someone who was never entirely defeated by it. It's a fantastic film.

I'm Still Here is in cinemas February 27.

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