A sad poignant film about a woman trying and failing to find her husband.
Walter Salles’ latest film “I’m Still Here” retells a true story that takes place in Rio in 1970 under a military dictatorship, and focuses on Eunice Paiva (1929-2018), who became an activist against them and a lawyer. She was also the wife of the politician Rubens Pavia, who was taken by men of the dictatorship.
Fernanda Torres just became the first Brazilian actress to win the Golden Globe for her portrayal of Eunice, and she delivers with life and radiance. And the movie is a like a wake-up call for those of you familiar or unfamiliar with this story. I, myself, had to process a lot of things as I was watching “I’m Still Here,” and while it’s sad at times, it’s also uplifting.
After the men keep the family on lockdown, Eunice and one of their daughters Eliana (Luiza Kosovski) are both escorted to a secret facility, where the mother is told that Rubens (Selton Mello) may have been involved with terrorists, and where she is now imprisoned and listening to other prisoners getting abused and torutred. Her daughter gets released after a day, while she was there for three.
She soon gets released, but now struggles to find her husband. It also becomes a life journey for her regarding her dedication to her family, and what comes out of her pathos. And whether or not you know this true story, it is tragic.
Like “Nickel Boys” and “Small Things Like These,” “I’m Still Here” doesn’t show us the torture and abuse the prisoners went through. We just hear the screams of agony, and that’s probably for the best. Not all of us have the stomach to actually see them, and I remember why a majority of people would stay away from Michel Franco’s “New Order.” Besides, it’s more about the outcome of how Eunice has thrived against this and how she deals with her life.
Salles directs Torres with the right intensity, and he tries not to take the easy way out of things. In fact, he makes some smart choices about how to present this true story and how to express the themes on a timely basis. As he stated in an interview in TheWrap, “Everybody became very conscious that the film was not only about what we had been, but who we were and who we eventually wanted to be.”
Some scenes need a little more pay off, but most scenes have our attention with everything that went on in Eunice’s life from her family under lockdown to her career to her golden years with Alzheimer’s (Fernanda Montenegro portrays the elderly Eunice). This drama can be thrilling, but it can also be emotional, especially when the film wisely chooses to use words and not glamorize it for American audiences. Obviously, I’m an American film critic, but I still admire what this film is trying to accomplish, and it succeeds very well.
The Golden Globes and myself have voted “Emilia Perez” as the best international film of 2024, but “I’m Still Here” comes as high as that film on my list for all the reasons I have mentioned. And I enjoyed this film before Torres won the Golden Globe.
In Select Theaters This Friday
