Elite Squad
by José Padilha
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: André Ramiro, Caio Junqueira, Fernanda Machado, Milhem Cortaz, Wagner MouraDirector: José Padilha
Brand: WTF
Writer: José Padilha
Producer: Bia Castro
Writer: André Batista
Writer: Bráulio Mantovani
Writer: John Kaylin
Writer: Luiz Eduardo Soares
Writer: Rodrigo Pimentel
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Portuguese (Original Language); English (Dubbed)
Format: Color, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 115 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-10-28
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Model: 81548
Studio: Weinstein Company
Product features:
- An action-packed thriller that follows an elite police battalion (BOPE) tasked with cleaning up a drug-ridden Rio de Janeiro slum in advance of the pope's 1997 visit. A team of trained killers, they struggle to do what's right in a corrupt system and dangerous neighborhood. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: NR Age: 796019815482 UPC: 79601981
Movie Reviews of Elite Squad
Movie Review: Of Fascists and Patriots
Summary: 5 Stars
Tropa de Elite ('Elite Troop') is a film portraying the retirement of one soldier (most police in Brazil are military and are better described as 'soldiers' than 'police officers') and the recruitment of two more into the BOPE (Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais - 'Police Special Operations Battalion'), an elite, semi-autonomous branch of the Policia Militar of Rio de Janeiro. Several American critics, on reviewing the film, were horrified to find that it seemed, in the words of Variety magazine, to be a 'recruitment video for fascism.' And they're right. That's exactly what the film seems to be, and that is precisely the intention of the director. Now, it would be a great mistake to believe that the film actually is such a recruitment video: the director, José Padilha,
is about as predisposed to produce fascist recruitment material as Ghandi would be . However, the director is definitely inviting us to see Brazil's favelas not from the typical viewpoint of middle-class sociologists and journalists, but from the viewpoint of the BOPE, a police battalion which is a disturbing mix of elite military strike force (like the SAS or the Navy Seals), secret police force (like the Gestapo or KGB) and religious cult, worshipping fanatically the ideal of the patriotic, incorruptible police soldier.
I noticed that one reviewer of Tropa de Elite, evidently expecting a Hollywood-style action film, was disappointed that the BOPE did not appear to have any of the high-tech equipment one would associate with elite military forces. That reviewer can rest assured that the real BOPE do in fact use such equipment, and a member of the BOPE on operations looks much like a member of any elite force: military helmet, body armor, nightvision goggles and the like. Added to the balaclavas that real BOPE soldiers wear to obscure their identities, the real-life BOPE gear presents a fearsome appearance reminiscent of some killing machine out of science fiction. In the fictional presentation of BOPE in the film, however, the BOPE soldiers are stripped of their gear and put into more normal police-style uniforms, allowing us to see the men beneath the gear. And this is really what the film is about. We see the human faces behind the elite death squads and are forced to confront the fact that these are real, moral beings, with loves, desires and concerns just like ours. We see them as nervous fathers, young men with crushes, loyal friends, and men with dreams of a better life, not just as psychotic terminators that we can summarily dismiss from our moral radar.
And as we are drawn into the viewpoint of these men, we come to the real thrust of the film: we come face-to-face with the fact that their viewpoint is not born of the delusions of half-crazed psychotic fascists, but rather of the frustrations of men who believe passionately in saving their country but who are prevented from doing so through any of the more legitimate channels, all of which have become so corrupt as to be little more than a joke. I don't think that we are being invited to agree with the viewpoint of the BOPE soldiers, but we are being invited to move away from the superficial moralizing of the middle-class students portrayed in the film, and instead confront the harsh reality of the Brazilian favelas, a reality that is not amenable to easy answers or quick fixes.
If you're up for great acting, a solid script and character-driven drama that addresses social issues in a way that really makes you think, then Tropa de Elite might be exactly what you're looking for. If, however, you're looking for something that will provide a clear-cut, black and white account of violence in Brazil, without challenging your moral viewpoint, then give this one a miss.
Summary of Elite Squad
Synopsis:Item Type: DVD Movie
Item Rating: R
Street Date: 10/28/08
Wide Screen: yes
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
LanguageENGLISH
Foreign Film: no
Subtitlesno
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: no
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve Please note: This supplier will be closed on 11/24, 11/25, 12/26, 1/2 for the holidays. The shipping cut off is 12/10 to try and have the products delivered by Christmas.
Though José Padilha's action-packed crime drama won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival, a steady stream of controversy and acclaim has followed in its wake. Some critics have even accused the director of promoting fascism, while Padilha (Bus 174) contends that Elite Squad argues against police brutality. Like Vic Mackey, who heads up The Shield's LA strike force, narrator Captain Nascimento (Wagner Moura) heads up Rio de Janeiro's Police Special Operations Battalion (BOPE). It?s 1997, the Pope arrives for a visit in six months, and BOPE will stop at nothing to reduce crime in the favelas. The way they see it, drug traffickers have them outmanned and outgunned, so there's no point in playing by the rules. With their black uniforms and berets, the Skulls certainly cut an imposing figure. New police recruits Neto (Caio Junqueira) and aspiring lawyer Matias (André Ramiro) turn to Nascimento when their efforts to operate by the book only lead to frustration (Matias was inspired by author/law student/BOPE member André Batista). The burned-out captain sees his salvation in the two childhood friends; as soon as he selects a replacement, he plans to leave the force and spend time with his pregnant wife. Nascimento may find his man, but the ending is far from happy. Brutal and bleakly funny, Elite Squad depicts 1990s Rio as Danté's Ninth Circle of Hell. Nonetheless, Brazilians made the film an even bigger sensation than City of God, to which it serves as an essential companion piece. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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