Cuatro días de septiembre

The year is 1969. Brazil is under a brutal military dictatorship. Political prisoners are being held and tortured. In order to get the junta to free some of their comrades, a group of ragtag "revolutionaries" kidnap the U.S. Ambassabor and threaten his life unless their demands are met.

Well-written and tense, the film ably demonstrates the flaws of people trying to fight fire with fire: "an eye for and eye". Alan Arkin is wonderful as the ambassador. His character gives incisive psychological sketches of his kidnappers: fervent and brooding; yearning and lost.

Fernanda Torres and Pedro Cardoso are marvelous as comrades who become lovers by their admittance of how really scared they are.

My subject line refers to a line in the script that aptly describes the bending of the political spectrum at its ends. I'm glad I found this movie.

After the dark era of the 1980s - when the only movies being produced locally were, to put it mildly, very erotic - the Brazilian Movie Industry struggled to regain international credibility. And, while "Carlota Joaquina" and "O Quatrilho" clearly paved the way, this is (in my opinion) the production that put Brazil back on the charts. Based on a true story, "O que É isso, Companheiro?" is brought to life by actors who are probably the best performers of the currently generation, and earned an Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. The most amazing aspect of this movie, however, goes unknown by international audiences: two of its main actors (Pedro Cardoso and Luiz Fernando Guimarães) achieved success, in Brazil, through their work as comedians.

Four days in September is not supposed to be funny, predictable, or boring. It is a piece of Brazilian history from the 60's and based on real events. Those dark years of Brazilian history are not supposed to be fun. It was certainly not boring either. For those who admire different cultures it is a great movie and a great introduction to contemporary Brazilian history. It starts with Girl from Ipanema and lots of images of a country that was enjoying itself in the years before the military coup. Leila Diniz, Bossa Nova, all was allowed before the military coup in 1964 and hence compose the first scenes of the movie. Characters are based on real participants of the kidnapping and Fernando Gabeira (Paulo) is still engaged in politics in Brazil. It's also worth noting that Fernanda Montenegro (Dona Margarida) and Fernanda Torres (andreia/Maria) (mother and daugther in real life) are both in this movie. It's a great piece for those who are willing to learn a little bit more about an amazing country that is Brazil.

When the Brazilian Government is overthrown by a military uprising, the result is a dictatorship over the people. With protests violently broken up on the streets, armed struggle is seen as the only solution and leads to the formation of the 8th October group (MR8). Desiring direct action, Fernando and Cesar join the group and are trained in weaponry and the likes. However during a bank job, Cesar hesitates to kill and is shot and captured by the police, while the others flee. It is this that gives Fernando the idea to kidnap the American ambassador in return for the release of 15 captured revolutionaries and bringing the events to the attention of the world. This film tells the story of the four-day hostage situation in the mid-sixties.

I'm not a particularly well-read person and there is a lot of history (even recent history) that I am simply not aware of and this includes the events and times presented in this film. For that reason I cannot really comment on the accuracy or level of detail containing in this telling but what little I have since gleamed from other sources tell me that it is pretty fair and close enough to being accurate. The plot is well told and is made interesting by the attention paid to the people involved in the situation; the drama and tension comes from them rather than false action sequences or stand-offs. The thanks for this should lie with the cast but also with the script that creates the characters and makes them 'real', meaning we find it easier to understand them and feel for the positions they are in. The historical context is well done and I did find it very easy to get engaged in.

The characters are where it is at and they are all very 'human'. We are never made to totally root for them because of what they are doing, but we are helped to understand why they are doing this and how hard it is for some of them to actually turn their words into action. Cardoso does this best and he is the real heart of the film and easily the most sympathetic character. He has good chemistry with Arkin, who does well acting in a foreign film. Torres does well to gradually soften her character as the film goes and it makes her more interesting than she was early on. Support is all pretty good with no really weak performances anywhere but the film mostly belongs to these lead three. The direction is good, capturing the feel of the period early on (where stock footage blends seamlessly into the main film) and producing tension without overdoing the style over substance.

Overall this is a pretty good film, telling a straight story using the characters to drive it forward and involve the audience. The film has tension but it comes from the people involved and the situations they face in the attempts to do the 'right thing'. The script delivers the characters to the actors and the actors are convincing in their delivery, producing an engaging and interesting film that helps deliver historical relevance in a miniature story.

The movie, based on the Fernando Gabeira's novel, is intense, full of action, motion and meaning. How a few young rebels planned and executed the kidnap of the US Ambassador in Rio - on that time, the Embassy was still there. Very well produced and edited, special comments about the sound, with some moments of silence and other with a disturbing noise. An expert crew. Take a look in Pedro Cardoso, who represents Fernando Gabeira. OK, some scenes of the movie are different from the original written version, but I should say it looks really good. But I would never suggest somebody else to try repeating their adventure and kidnap the US Ambassador...