MOVIES AT LA PLAZA: “AUNDA ESTOU AQUI” (“I’M STILL HERE’) -- Resilience and stoicism

Commentary by Sergio Martínez

It is 1970, and Brazil has been under a fierce military dictatorship for six years. However, at times, the country seems to have some semblance of normality: people are having fun at the beach, kids are playing soccer in the street, and young people are going to have fun at some bar. Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), an engineer who until before the coup had been a deputy for the Labour Party, a social democratic formation, his wife Eunice (Fernanda Torres), and their five children live in Rio de Janeiro, near the beach. Their lives go by within the expected parameters of a middle-class family.

This film is based on the real story
of Rubens Paiva

This apparent atmosphere of normality is abruptly interrupted when security agents come to the house looking for Paiva. They tell his wife that the reason they are taking him with them is of no great importance. “Your husband will be back soon,” they assure Eunice. Eventually, the agents proceed to detain and interrogate Eunice and one of her daughters.

While in detention, Eunice is subjected to threatening interrogations and pressured to identify known persons in a photographic archive of alleged opponents of the dictatorship. Time passes, and finally, the woman must come to terms with the reality of the facts: her husband is a disappeared detainee. The situation becomes more complicated for the family: it is not even possible to withdraw funds from Rubens' bank account because the bank requires his signature.  Eunice decides to sell the house in Rio and move with her children to Sao Paulo.

Fernanda Torres as Eunice

This film, directed by Walter Salles, is based on a true story, the case of Rubens Paiva, one of the thousands of people who disappeared during the Brazilian military dictatorship.  After the restoration of democracy, Eunice and her children, now grown up, undertake the task of denouncing human rights violations during the military dictatorship.

I’m Still Here is nominated for an Oscar in both the Best Picture and Best International Film categories, and Fernanda Torres is nominated for Best Actress. Given the current circumstances in Brazil and other parts of the world, where there is a resurgence of extreme right-wing movements, this film undoubtedly has a strong social and political impact.

The family life of the Paivas
was soon disrupted

It is certainly a film that illustrates in a very powerful way the resilience of a woman faced with the loss of her husband, with five children under her responsibility and who must face the refusal of state agencies and the courts to find the whereabouts of her husband or at least his remains. Resilience and great stoicism allow Eunice to move forward and provide testimony of what it was like to fight against an implacable enemy such as the State apparatus during the dictatorship. Fernanda Torres delivers a remarkable performance for her versatility that goes from portraying a typical middle-class mother and wife to the strong woman who knows she must move forward and, finally, the human rights defender who strongly denounces everything she had to go through. The film also has the merit of recreating the social environments of the family and the neighbourhood where the Paiva used to live.

It is a film that we recommend because it invites us to reflect on what the military dictatorship meant in Brazil and how, in the present political environment, it is necessary to warn about the dangers of fascism worldwide.

Running time: 136 min.