Finally got the chance to see this amazing and rare documentary after a decade just watching what would become the most memorable clip from it, the infamous attack of general
Newton Cruz against a reporter who turn off his tape recorder after hearing many angered rebuttals from the military. The reporter replies something (of which is almost
impossible to hear or fully understand since he's far away from the general but the man heard it, went after the reporter and while choke-holding him demanded an apology).
This was in 1983, it was broadcast even then back in the final years of the military regime but current audiences know about this moment because of this 1985 documentary
made by the great João Batista de Andrade. Bless the heart of whoever posted the clip on the net because it shows not only a typical behavior of the people in charge of the
country as invidividuals who didn't know how to answer simple questions without being aggressive but also showed us in current time how such behavior got repeated by politicians
and militaries who had higher duties just a couple of years ago and ending last year.
The film itself goes beyond that infamous clip. "Céu Aberto" ("Open Sky") takes us back to the critical agonizing days of a nation when president elect Tancredo Neves, the
first civilian to take office after 21 years of military in charge, got sick and was rushed to the hospital. After many confusing and mismatched reports and informations from
the press related to the president's health, then the photo opportunity made to not alarm the nation and assure he was getting better, the man died and our hopes for the return
to democracy almost were almost jeopardized by the possibility of a coup. It didn't happened but during those 20-something days of pain and agony many people thought about
countless conspiracy theories, including a possible assassination of Tancredo rather than just a sickness (which was covered-up for 30 years, his stomach ailment was a lot
simpler than what was revealed in 1985, slightly related to a cancer but saying the word out loud to people, thought the doctors, could alarm the nation. The documentary doesn't
reach that part since those revelations only were known in 2015).
A division is made: following the moments where the crowd, journalists and politicians talk about their hopes for Neves recovery and also talk about his important political
legacy as a mediating force between his own party and the opposition; and the aftermath of his death with people in doubt if a coup would take place or the vice-president would
take office as planned. The great thing about this film was that Andrade was predicting those moments ever since Neves election would be of great historical importance, so
he and his crew were capturing everything from day one up until the shocking twist of Neves being sick and eventual death, going everywhere in Brazil, the largest city capitals
and then Brasília where members of both sides of the aisle were interviewed, and even the crazed Newton Cruz appears in it, revealing if there was a coup or not, possibly
incited by him and his high command. This part was interesting because it's the complete opposite of his interview/attack and even if compared with other media appearances
where he's usually on defensive mode and his face keeps angry or annoyed. No, he's quite relaxed and even has some small good moments along his grand-children or nephews (can't
remember who were the kids).
For those who want to understand the intense drama felt by Brazilian people during those turbulent early days and months of 1985 during the political transition from
dictatorship to democracy, this is a must-see film. There's the happiness and positive vibes from the crowd after election and goes all the way to the crushed hopes of people,
in a gigantic wave of commotion, tears and prayers to Tancredo - just observe his funeral and you'll realize that ever since his death no other politician got the same sympathy
from the crowd, and this is also a reflection about the future governments that came after his vice took over. The seesaw in politics that went from false saviors to hopeful
realists and scammers only makes voters distrust the system to a point if they die we don't mourn them all that much. Tancredo was the last one to unite a majority without
taking office. And I wonder how his administration would be in taking us out of the social/economical crisis of the mid-1980's. So many theories, room for conjectures and what
if's that can make one crazy since most people do think he could have changed things for the better, unlike what we got from 1986 and forward. 10/10.
