Yes, It Can Happen Here. And the Movies Warned Us
variety.comOwen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic A couple of months ago, I had a movie experience that truly shook me up. It was early December, and I was in the middle of my end-of-the-year marathon, catching up with the big prestigious awards-season films I’d missed.
One of them was “I’m Still Here,” Walter Salles’ acclaimed true-life drama, set in Brazil in 1970, about a family whose exuberant and loving existence falls off a cliff when the father, Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), is taken in for police questioning by the country’s military dictatorship.
His wife, Eunice (Fernanda Torres), is told that it’s a routine interrogation, and that he’ll be back within a matter of hours.
But that doesn’t happen. The hours stretch into days, then weeks, and then months. He is never heard from again. I’ve been watching movies about political oppression, and scenarios like this one, for most of my life.
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