Pra Frente, Brasil (1982)

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The torturing of prisoners in the 1970s is the focus of this film that was banned in Brazil, and banned at Cannes or in private screening rooms by the head of the Embrafilme studios who paid for Pra Frente Brazil. The former head of the studio was fired for making the film. The story concerns a man… More The torturing of prisoners in the 1970s is the focus of this film that was banned in Brazil, and banned at Cannes or in private screening rooms by the head of the Embrafilme studios who paid for Pra Frente Brazil. The former head of the studio was fired for making the film. The story concerns a man who is picked up by the police because they mistake him for a terrorist. As he is brutalized in a dungeon-like setting, the people in the streets are celebrating Brazil winning the 1970 World Soccer Cup in Mexico. In this story of mistaken identity, the torturing is laid at the feet of paramilitary forces hired by a corporate world to fend off guerrilla attacks on their properties and persons. This did not sit well with the Brazilian leftists who complained that no word was said against the government using torture, or about the fact that it still goes on. The movie also did not sit well with the rightists who do not like torture portrayed against a paramilitary group that might as well stand in for one of their organizations, and the film certainly did not meet the approval of the government. That leaves a few film critics, who seem to think that the director Roberto Farias - and the group of his relatives who contributed in various ways to the film, did a rather decent job of it, as far as filmmaking goes. This movie won the Gramado Film Festival prize in 1982. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi