I’m Still Here
Natalie Portman Teaches Acting
A woman seeks answers after her husband is forcibly disappeared in I’m Still Here. It is the early 1970s and Brazil is under a military dictatorship. Eunice Paiva (Fernanda Torres) lives in a beachside house in Rio De Janeiro with her former congressman husband Rubens (Selton Mello) and their five children. Despite the ongoing dictatorship, the family enjoys a party for Eunice and Rubens’ eldest daughter Veroca (Valentina Herszage), before she leaves for a trip to the United Kingdom.
However, it is not long before Rubens is approached by the military and asked to go in for questioning. A day later, Eunice and her daughter Eliana (Luiza Kosovski) are also brought in, with Eunice finding herself placed in jail for an indeterminate amount of time. When she is finally allowed to return home, Eunice is shocked to discover that Rubens was never released and that the military is denying that he was even arrested in the first place.
I’m Still Here Synopsis
I’m Still Here is a historical drama directed by Walter Salles (On the Road) and based on the 2015 memoir by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, the son of Eunice and Rubens Paiva. The primary plot takes place during the years of the Brazillian dictatorship when it was common practice to make their political enemies disappear. This is what happens to former Labour Party congressman Ruben Paiva, played by Selton Mello, who is seen getting into his car to drive to a deposition, never to be seen again.
The rest of the film involves Eunice Paiva, played by Fernanda Torres, being forced to adjust to this traumatic change in her life. Not only does Eunice have to fight to get Rubens released, or receive proof of his demise, but she has to deal with a sudden change in lifestyle after being unable to access her husband’s bank accounts. In the end, Eunice has to make a very difficult decision.
My Thoughts on I’m Still Here
Even if I’m Still Here wasn’t based on true events, it wouldn’t be too difficult to decipher what happens to Selton Mello’s Ruben Paiva after he is taken away by military personnel at the end of the film’s first act. As the title of the film suggests, I’m Still Here is about the story of the Desaparecidos (the disappeared) from the perspective of those left behind during the Brazillian dictatorship. While the majority of I’m Still Here‘s plot takes place during the early 1970s, the film’s third act features two time jumps – first to 1996 and again to 2014 – which illustrates how the events of the film affected the family over the decades.
Fernanda Torres gives a great performance in the the lead role of Eunice Paiva, who progresses from being a souffle-making wife at the start of the film to being forced to reinvent herself. This includes seeking the help of her circle of friends, who have been secreting smuggling the truth about the dictatorship to news outlets outside of the country. Eunice also has to deal with the frustrations of her older daughters, particularly Eliana, while keeping the true nature of Ruben’s disappearance a secret from her younger children.
If there are any real criticisms I have about I’m Still Here, it’s that the time jumps in the third act feel both too long and rushed, skimming over details such as Marcelo Rubens Paiva going from being depicted as a child (Guilherme Silveira) for most of the film to being an adult (Antonio Saboia), who’s inexplicably a paraplegic in a wheelchair. That said, I’m Still Here makes the poetic touch of casting Fernanda Torres’ mother Fernanda Montenegro as the elderly Eunice for the film’s final scene set in 2014.
Despite being a period drama about events that happened in the 1970s, I’m Still Here still has a quite timely story that can be related to today’s political climate. It is a scary thought that a corrupt government could have the power to make people disappear and not have to answer for those actions for decades. Altogether, I’m Still Here leaves much to think about.
Trailer for I’m Still Here
