Elite Squad

The Brazilians unexpectedly delivered a fantastic film that left me with strong emotions. It's quite important to watch films from other countries from time to time, as viewers can learn something new. The same goes for me. The film presented a very believable portrayal of everyday life in the poorest areas of Rio (the favelas), showcasing what law enforcement has to deal with and the completely different way of life for the local residents. I’m so glad I don’t live in Brazil because I wouldn’t want to encounter a kid with an automatic rifle on every corner, who could easily shoot me in the head without hesitation. I don’t envy the local police at all, as they face two problems, and I don’t even know which is worse. They deal with various gangsters and their associates, who don’t have much love for men in blue uniforms, or even the corrupt part of the police, those who should be fighting against it. The cast was extremely likable, and Wagner Moura was outstanding. Throughout its runtime, the film breathed an atmosphere that captivated me. The action moments in the chaotic, semi-collapsed buildings were perfectly shot. I can't wait to see the sequel. The first one gets 88% from me. (04/03/2017)

The affiliation with the famous film City of God is distant and takes place purely on a thematic level. Elite Squad looks at the problem of favelas, poverty, and crime from a completely different angle and uses different film techniques. It is the personal confession of the commander of a special police unit in the form of his inner commentary, complemented by a shaky handheld camera that creates a semi-documentary impression. The craftsmanship of the film amounts to a weak 4 stars. What bothers me is the ideological foundation from which Elite Squad stems. The main character is an elitist who seems to have come straight out of Armin the Knight from Vláčil's film The Valley of the Bees. Armin would let the angels survive, but Nascimento wants to exterminate society to such an extent that the result would be similar. There are very few contemporary films that so prominently promote a right-wing authoritarian and elitist ideology. The film is essentially a defense of the creation and operation of the notorious Brazilian E.M., motorized brigades of the São Paulo police that have been "cleansing" the city of child street gangs since the 1960s and have come to be called death squads. The film's protagonist wants to heal the criminality and corruption of the system through executions and torture. Overall impression: 40%. (22/09/2010)

If the entire film was only about the training of the new members of the “elite squad”, the only thing that would bother me would be the ideological aftertaste left by almost every scene. But Elite Squad has many more things that bothered me: there isn’t a lot of action, and when there is some, it’s not very clear, half the scenes are pointless, the subplots are uninteresting, the script goes nowhere and there are many ugly male characters that (other than the main trio) I could never tell apart. To tell you the truth, after half an hour I was already looking forward to the end (and I kept on looking forward until the end). (21/04/2011)

Considerably weaker than City of God, but still a drama of immense power. The worst is that we are forced to watch hell on earth through the eyes of the cruellest policeman ever, whose actions become increasingly disgusting as the story progresses, but at the same time we understand more and more that there is no other way. Whether it's the torture and shooting of dealers or the incredibly tough military training, which at one point is really hard to follow, in any case, José Padilha has achieved his goal of presenting us with a society so bleakly devastated and corrupted on both sides of the law that I will never forget it. (28/08/2012)

Rio de Janeiro is full of pissed off drug dealers and gangs, and they must be taken off the streets before the Pope comes to visit. The elite BOPA unit will be happy to do the job. A very impressive and well shot action drama about how life in Brazil is far from idyllic. But this audiovisual and atmospheric banger has a problem with perhaps too radical ideas in the script. (09/07/2008)