Review: I'm Still Here (2024)
A Brazilian family copes when the father is disappeared by the 1970s-era military regime
I’m Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui) (2024)
Directed by Walter Salles
The “dirty war” of the mid-20th century was an effort by the United States to disrupt the political systems and development of countries in Latin America. In parallel with its failed effort in Vietnam and southeast Asia, the U.S. both openly and secretly funded far-right politicians, army officers, and others in efforts to suppress and eliminate any opposition to US “interests” — namely, the imperial exploitation of these countries by United States companies.
While most Americans think of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Argentina and Chile as the major sites of the dirty war, this effort affected almost every country in Latin America, including Brazil, where an alliance between right-wing politicians and the military saw the same kinds of disappearances, assassinations, and assaults on civil rights.1 When I was in high school in Texas in 1972, there was an exchange student from Brazil, one Manuelo, who was best known for dominating the soccer club. In my history class one day, we were discussing South America, and someone asked about Brazil. “It’s a military dictatorship,” the teacher said. “If you ask Manuelo, he’ll deny it — but it is.” (This made me realize that Manuelo must be from one of the wealthy families who benefitted from the U.S.’s imperialism.)
“I’m Still Here” is a narrative feature that depicts the war’s effects on one family, whose father Rubens Paiva is taken away by plainclothes secret police. The first half-hour of this two-hour movie shows the family’s happy life before his arrest; the remainder shows Rubens’ wife Eunice and their four children coping with his disappearance. For years, the government refuses to disclose his fate or why they eliminated him. Decades later, after democracy has returned, they finally get some answers.
The film’s most intense moments show the arrest, the occupation of the family’s house by the sinister plainclothes men, and the arrest and interrogation of Eunice. She spends ten days being shuttled between a dank cell and an interrogation room where she is asked the same questions day after day. After her release she looks for answers about her husband’s fate, and gets none. Finally, they move from Rio de Janeiro to another city, and the next scene is set decades later when she gets official notice of her husband’s death.
What the film doesn’t show — while many similar films such as “Argentina, 1985” make it the centerpiece of their story — is the continued effort by Eunice and others to investigate disappearances and demand accountability from the government. Viewers only get to see the immediate before-and-after of Rubens’ arrest. Since the real Eunice Paiva became a lawyer after her husband’s disappearance and devoted her life to defending the rights of Brazil’s indigenous population,2 this omission seems odd. Yes, holding her family together was a heroic act. But her real-life heroism on a larger scale would have been much more dramatic. As it is, this portrait seems unnecessarily muted. (For a more complete picture of the dirty war in Brazil, this documentary looks helpful [I didn’t view it]: “Brazil: Memories of a Dirty War” [2013].)
As Eunice, Fernanda Torres lucidly embodies the figure of a strong mother, an anxious widow, a terrified detainee. She is nominated as Best Actress in the upcoming Oscars; the film itself received nominations in both the Best Picture and the Best International Feature categories. Director Walter Salles is best known to American moviegoers as the director of “The Motorcycle Diaries” (2004). (He also directed a 2012 film version of “On the Road.”3) A very talented filmmaker, he deserves the acclaim and renewed attention that “I’m Still Here” will bring.
Aside from the strictly historical lesson the film gives viewers, the relevance to viewers today is obvious. At this moment, the U.S. faces the greatest threat to its existence since the Civil War, as a 50-year effort by billionaires to propagandize Americans and trick them into supporting their vision for the country comes to fruition with the rise of fascist Trumpism.
At present, the tactic of employing hidden plainclothes police, as seen in this film, is primarily being used only in the administration’s efforts against the scapegoated immigrant population. But an incident that occurred a few days ago makes it clear that shadowy billionaires and fascists are planning to use this tactic more widely. At a town hall event in Idaho sponsored by a local Republican organization, several black-clad men dragged a protestor4 from the high school auditorium where the meeting was being held.5 The men weren’t labelled as private security6, and — creepily — they wouldn’t speak to anyone during or after their intervention, so it was impossible to know who they were, who was giving them orders at the event, and who hired them to attend it. Actions like this should alarm anyone who is dedicated to retaining democracy in the U.S.
“Brazil: Panel Details ‘Dirty War’ Atrocities.” Human Rights Watch, Dec. 10, 2014.
“The Devastating True Story Behind 'I'm Still Here' Makes the Best Picture Nominee Even More Powerful.” Collider, Jan. 27, 2025.
Given the director and his success with the road movie “The Motorcycle Diaries,” one might think this is a neglected classic. But merely watching the trailer (on the film’s IMDB page) makes you understand why nobody saw it: it’s not “On the Road” but a bromance movie that probably should have been called something like “Bad, Bad Dean Moriarty.” Kristin Stewart looks great in the trailer, though.
YouTube:
“UPDATE on town hall chaos: Woman who was dragged out speaks, police chief condemns security, name of security firm confirmed.” Feb. 23, 2025. Coeur d'Alene / Post Falls Press.
“Coeur d’Alene prosecutors dismiss citation against woman dragged from town hall, city revokes security company’s business license.” Feb. 24, 2025. Coeur d'Alene / Post Falls Press.