The Elite Squad (Padilha,2007)

[KK2.0]

Just won the Golden Bear in Berlin. link (http://www.berlinale.de/en/das_festival/preise_und_juries/preise_internationale_jury/index.html)

:pritch:

I've watched the film several months ago and it was my #1 for 2007, my review died with the old match-cut but since that thread pretty much had zero responses, it's better timing to create another one now.

Edit: celebration avatar added =)

[Ezee E]

Been waiting for this to come out. I heard January, but then nothing.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I can't wait to see this. I tried finding a copy, but it seems the only ones available are poor quality and possibly missing scenes and/or scenes are improperly edited together. Figured I'd pass and wait for a legit release.

[KK2.0]

a bootleg from a pre-release cut leaked months before the film's opening here, the word of mouth was so crazy that they had to anticipate it's release date to fight back piracy.

I haven't watched the bootleg, but as far as i know it has fewer minutes and a chapter division, that Padilha removed from the final theatrical version.

[KK2.0]

a review popped at AICN, from a fellow brazilian: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35650

i'll try to write a better review, a brief one at least. Let me say that Padilha conceived Elite Squad to piss off people, and he suceeded brilliantly. City of God is superior cinema, but Elite is clearly aiming for discussion instead of artistic heights, althought it also has merits at that. Padilha's film is a hybrid of documentary sensibility and bad-ass cop movie that pushes several buttons.

Both an exciting, extremely cynical entertainment, and a violent, ruthless and finger-pointing exposition of the most rotten corners of brazilian society, it doesn't takes sides. The film divides people, some called it fascist, a gloryfication of torture, but i believe that people who says that failed to grasp the whole idea, exactly for showing those practices being described and executed with glee by the cops, it actually exposes them and ridicules their macho attitudes. Not surprisingly, real police officers from Brazil tryed to boycott and ban the movie.

I don't know how the international community will react to it, Berlim's Prize was a big surprise to everyone after the lukewarm reception from critics, but i believe Padilha is pretty satisfyied already. Here, the entire country went crazy, i've never experienced that before with a local picture, from housewives to intellectuals, people quoted lines and voiced pássionate opinions about the film's many points, the film hit the nerve.

[MadMan]

I actually want to see this really badly (I believe there was another thread about it a while back that featured a trailer for the film).

[KK2.0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyAG8DWq7xw

i've found this, a fan made preview containing the frst 6 minutes + a 4 minute scene. Subtitles aren't great and i would select different parts, but if you're curious take a look.

If you rather avoid spoilers until a proper internatinal preview is out, stay away.

[Qrazy]

It was decent, not amazing in my opinion.

[KK2.0]

It was decent, not amazing in my opinion.

the film, or the preview? :P

[Qrazy]

the film, or the preview? :P

Film.

[KK2.0]

I was born in Rio and lived there for most of my life (living in Sao Paulo now) there's an inevitable bias to my opinion, certain parts of the film felt like Padilha read my thoughts and showed them to me.

Where did you saw it, Qrazy? And i'd love to read your opinions about it, i'm curious about outside perspectives on the movie.

[Dukefrukem]

Has anyone seen the sequel?