The question is posed to some streetwalkers who happen to be crossing a street named after the famous industrialist, some know a little about him, others don't have the slightest clue. But during the hour and half we're invited to discover who was this important figure, his work and legacy, and his controversial involvement with the Military Regime during the 1960's and 1970's which led to his death sentence by leftist groups, who knew about his errands and his contributions to the military. To some, the latter was a mere speculation, just gossip but Chaim Litewski's debut film brilliantly proves his remarkable partnership with the government, raising money for the cause and even testifying with enjoyment the torture sessions of prisoners who were allegedly against the dictatorship.
"Cidadão Boilesen" ("Citizen Boilesen") is an interesting and detailed documentary not only about the president of Ultragás (gas sources) and his connections with political and military authorities but it's also about showing who was the man, his characteristics and his peculiar dark side; and there's time to take a look on how the Military repression on Communists worked in Brazil, and both sides of the issue presents their perspective of facts. Among the forty people interviewed, there's one former leftist militant (now turned into a music teacher) who participated in Boilesen's killing, a very planned ambush and with this person a mystery unexplained by the film: although it says about Boilesen's killers fate (most of them were killed by the police in the following days) it doesn't say nothing about this guy who never got caught and now explains his group reasons on why they should kill the businessman.
Anyway, "Cidadão Boilesen" counts with an exceptional research with plenty of archive footage from the period, clips from documentaries and films (I didn't know "Pra Frente Brasil" was inspired on the real case). A movie about his story should be made since he was a controversial and interesting character who went all the way from Denmark with almost nothing on his hands, came to São Paulo and left not only a trail of evil deeds but also left remarkable projects (founder of one of the most important internship programs still existent today).Sadic, opportunistic, talented, politically engaged, a man of many faces. Litewski conduces with notable energy, inspired by countless American documentaries, making it powerful, engaging and informative.
Doesn't go without problems: when using clips from films and sometimes not informing about them he may confuse viewers into thinking such images were from real events happened in between 1960's and 1970's; the soundtrack use at times was excessive, such jolly compositions which have nothing to do with the story presented; some of the interviewed are obnoxious, distractive or unintelligible. One reporter keeps looking at the camera and retelling the news as if they were happening today; or Deputy Erasmo Dias senile statements, so out of control; Boilesen's son didn't had nothing to say in there except cussing a lot when retelling a simple story about his father or being very naive while reflecting his skepticism about his father involvement with the military; Colonel Ustra's statements seem to be read from a paper proving he's hiding something, doesn't trust the interviewer and that's why his answers look and sound phony. The documentary gets caught with some small contradictions and it's difficult to know who is to blame: the director for not presenting the facts properly or a problem in collecting the material. Such contradiction has to do with facts concerning Boilesen's school records (minor problem but still). One person says he was the best student of his class while another informs about him being average. Who do we trust with this misinformation?
Here's an important project about someone deeply involved in one of the most shameful events of Brazil's history, a story which remained swept from under the rug for a long time. Now uncovered in details in this fascinating opus. 9/10
