Elite Squad (2007)

	Also Known As: Tropa de Elite (Original)
	Year of first release: 2007
	Director: José Padilha (Robocop)
	Actors: Wagner Moura (Trash), André Ramiro, Caio Junqueira
	Country: BR
	Genre: Action, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 14.06.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: The daily life of Captain Nascimento (Moura) in the section of Special Forces of the police of Rio de Janeiro (called BOPE), looking for a replacement in order to spend more time with his pregnant wife.
Review: I purchased this Blu-ray when I learned that this first fiction film (after he shot a Documentary) motivated Hollywood producers to ask José Padilha to direct the remake of Robocop, before I event saw that movie. From Brazil I think I has seen only City of God in my life and it did a strong impression on me like it did on everybody. Elite Squad takes place in the same kind of Favellas in Rio de Janeiro but focuses on the police Forces that are either corrupted or try to maintain order, instead of showing depressing scenes of poor kids sniffing glue. So Padilha uses a different approach (less Drama and more Action) to sensitise us to the same miserable life of the gangs of Rio. But there is hope as well, with Nascimento the family man and some youngsters studying law and working in NGOs to make the country a better place. The ridicule of the Police bureaucracy and corruption is so pushed that it makes laugh. In contrast the efficient methods used by the BOPE team, though often illegal, are worthy of an American SWAT team, and are filmed masterfully. A word about the structure: the movie starts with a small Action scene, followed by a "Six Month earlier" and both stories join not at the end but at mid-movie, so that the second half is still full of surprises. Well done. I will soon watch the sequel Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within.
Rating: 8 /10