Elite Squad

Jose Padilha, Brazil, 2007, 115 minutes

Elite Squad arrives on British shores much heralded. The film has a strong pedigree, with a script by the writers of City of God and direction by Jose Padilha who made the multi-award-winning documentary Bus 174. It has developed a great deal of momentum over the film festival season, arriving fresh from winning the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. However, it also arrives bearing a degree of controversy over allegations that the film celebrates a right-wing, borderline fascistic view of justice and police work.

However, the first question to ask is: does the film live up to its hype. For the most part, the answer to this is yes. Elite Squad is certainly heavily indebted to City of God. However, rather than focusing specifically on the gangs of Rio, the film instead concerns itself with the police force attempting to create some form of order from the chaos. The film begins as a riot breaks out in the slums of Rio. Captain Nascimento is sent with troops from the elite BOPE (Special Police Operation Battalion) squad to sort out the mess and save the police trapped in the area. The film then flashes back six months, following both the attempts of Captain Nascimento to recruit a successor to his post and the fortunes of the two leading candidates.

The film is frenetic from start to finish. Throughout the two hour running time the viewer is denied the opportunity to relax. It is undeniably entertaining throughout. The direction certainly adds to this, rarely lingering more than a second on an image and conveying a sense of the chaos which regularly engulfs Rio. The performances are generally good, although for me Caio Junqueira failed to fully convince as the aggressive, impulsive protégé Neto. The script is fast-moving and creates an interesting set of characters who face a difficult choice in whether to remain honest in a force where corruption is rife and honesty can get you killed.

These choices are where the controversy emerges. However, this controversy is in my view misplaced. The film certainly doesn’t shy away from the brutality of police work in Rio. However, I don’t believe that the film espouses brutality as the optimal approach. Instead, I feel that the film takes a neutral stance, creating a situation where the character’s decisions are understandable while leaving the viewer to decide if they were morally justifiable. Overall, when the debates are set aside, what you are left with is a hugely entertaining film which lacks the originality of its predecessors but which certainly maintains the ability to thrill.

Review by Neil Henry
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2009