There’s a scene early in Walter Salle’s I’m Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui in Portuguese) that prepares you for the kind of movie you’re about to see. Teenager Veroca (Valentina Herszage), the eldest daughter of the Paira family, is riding in the car with her boyfriend and friends. The passengers pass around a joint as rock music blares from the radio and the wind blows through the windows.
It’s Rio in 1970, the sun is shining, and for a moment, it’s a picture of blissful, ignorant adolescence. Then, within seconds, the mood of the film changes completely. In a tunnel, a police roadblock stops the car and aggressive officers order the minors out and check their IDs. They treat the boys and girls with hostile brutality, and though the encounter only lasts a few minutes, it shakes each of them to their core. This is the reality of the world in I’m Still Here; pure joy can be corrupted and crushed in the blink of an eye.
Director: Walter Salles
Writers: Murilo Hauser, Heitor Lorega, Marcelo Rubens Paiva
Stars: Fernanda Torres, Fernanda Montenegro, Selton Mello
Based on the memoirs of Marcelo Rubens Paiva, I’m Still Here chronicles the life of the Paira family, when the patriarch, Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), was unjustly imprisoned by the dictatorial regime, leaving his wife, Eunice (Fernanda Torres), to pick up the pieces of the family unit. Similar to Alfonso Cuarón’s immaculate Roma, the film is a snapshot of a happy family that cannot become immune to the harshness of the world. But more than that, it is an intimate, devastating and beautiful celebration of the human spirit, and how family can be a saving grace when faced with unimaginable cruelty and tragedy. The film premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival, where it took home the award for Best Screenplay, and has been selected as Brazil’s entry for Best International Feature Film at next year’s Oscars.
The Pairas are a wealthy and respected family living a stone’s throw from the beach in a beautiful villa in Rio in the 1970s. Reuben and Eunice are happily married and have five children: Veroca “Vera”, Eliana (Luiza Kosovski), Nalu (Barbara Luz), Marcelo (Guilherme Silveira) and Beatriz “Babiu” (Cora Mora). They have a loving maid and it seems like every member of the family wants for nothing. However, as seen in the first scene with Veroca, the looming presence of Brazil’s dictatorial military regime is becoming more pronounced. Veroca is sent to live with her relatives in London and we are treated to intimate and tender moments within the family; gatherings, dinners, parties and trips to the beach see friends and family dancing, laughing and enjoying a full and happy existence. Salle is patient with the film’s first act, taking care to establish just how loved and content the Pairas are. This is what makes the central event of the film so heartbreaking. Reuben is taken away for questioning by officers and several men refuse to leave the house, monitoring all members’ movements and listening to their calls. Eunice and Eliana are detained for questioning and although the military are evasive, it becomes clear that they suspect Reuben, a former congressman, is an enemy of the state.
What follows is a story of psychological torture for Eunice, who must raise four children and endure days in prison with no answers about her husband’s whereabouts. It then becomes a journey in search of justice, as Eunice fights to have her story told and the injustice of Reuben’s treatment acknowledged and corrected. Based on the true story of Reuben Paira, I’m Still Here takes a political and human rights story and imbues it with the very human themes of family, grief, survival and, above all, hope in the face of debilitating tragedy.
The comparison to Cuarón’s Roma seems appropriate even though I’m Still Here closely follows the true story of a victim of Brazil’s corrupt political regime. The comparisons are mostly seen in the first act. If you were to watch this film blind, you’d think Salle was making a film about his own childhood experiences, that’s how intimate and relatable it feels. The house is decorated with such authenticity, from the packed bookshelves to the endless ashtrays to Rueben’s cluttered office. The houses, beaches, and bookstores feel simultaneously sprawling and contained, the presence of characters who feel so deeply for each other making us feel closely welcomed even in larger spaces. The siblings bicker one second and then fuss over each other the next, bathing their new puppy and gossiping about boys and rock stars.
At the heart of the film, and the entire film, is Eunice. A housewife and mother, she never feels reduced to the role of caretaker. That's because she's the heroine of this Tom Cruise-esque story.
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