Walter Salles’ Profound Portrait of a Family and Nation in Turmoil

Waltz Salles’ deeply poignant film “I’m Still Here” marks the Brazilian director’s return to both his homeland and the filmmaking form that earned him an Oscar nomination for “Central Station.” The movie fittingly begins at the beach in Rio de Janeiro, where a stray dog interrupts a volleyball game, girls use Coca-cola as tanning lotion, and kids and teens engage in football and gossip. In this setting, we first meet Eunice Paiva, portrayed by a stunning Fernanda Torres, as she floats in the sparkling water, squinting against the sun. The serene scene is disrupted by a helicopter overhead.

Set in Christmastime 1970, Brazil is already six years into a military dictatorship that would linger for 15 more years. However, for the Paiva family — Eunice, her husband Rubens (Selton Mello), their five children, and live-in housekeeper Zeze (Pri Helena) — the oppressive regime feels distant, present mostly in radio news of kidnapped diplomats and rare army convoys.

The film is not just about the Paiva family’s tragedy but also about their lovely home — a place where Salles himself spent significant time as a teenager. This house, initially open to social gatherings, discussions about politics, music, and art, gradually becomes silent and fearful. After Rubens is taken away by men in black leather jackets for questioning and never returns, and Eunice endures harsh interrogations, the cheerful atmosphere dissipates. When Eunice asks Zeze for the gate key to lock their driveway, it’s a symbolic end of an era.

Salles’ filmmaking is noteworthy for its grace and naturalism despite the heavy metaphor of the Paiva family’s house reflecting Brazil’s growing oppression. Shot in vintage, spongy colors and interspersed with home movies taken by the eldest daughter Veroca (Valnetina Herszage) on a Super 8 camera, DP Adrian Teijido’s cinematography feels tactile, weaving past and present seamlessly. The soundtrack, featuring Gilberto Gil sambas and Caetano Veloso hits, wrapped in Warren Ellis’ poignant piano and strings score, adds a nostalgic melancholy even in happy family moments, hinting at the sadness of memories.

If “I’m Still Here” focused solely on Rubens’ loss, the film’s nostalgic hue might verge on the overly sentimental. However, Salles and the source material by Rubens’ son Marcelo focus on resilience, particularly embodied in Eunice through Torres’ superb performance. Elegant and resourceful, Eunice becomes the family’s backbone, raising her children and starting anew despite her grief and the authorities’ cruel denials regarding her husband’s fate.

Classical in structure but radical in its empathy, “I’m Still Here” could arguably do without the later sections set in 1996 and 2014, which shift the emotional tempo. Still, the characters are so vividly portrayed that the audience clings to them, while Eunice’s long quest for the official acknowledgment of her husband’s forced disappearance rightly deserves its portrayal.

The 2014 epilogue, featuring Fernanda Montenegro in a brief role as the older Eunice, adds an essential note of continuity and culmination. Watching the extended Paiva family gather for a smiling photograph is a reminder to those who seek to return to repressive rule: the national spirit and those who resist oppression will endure, inspiring art and stories. “I’m Still Here” thus stands as a heartsearing and beautiful testament to the resilience and quiet courage of those who stand against tyranny.

Source: various sources