chaos-rampant Another movie about the external world of organized inadequacies, this one set in Brazil and also about deep-rooted suffering in the cogs that give rise to that world. We race through, seeing with a certain narrative eye that tries to make sense, so let's see a few observations made by that eye.It lambasts several worlds. The world of corrupt cops who take bribes to do their job and still more bribes to look the other way, seen as ignorant bureaucrats or yet another gang. The world of privileged university kids who like to harp on about power structures but become unwitting cogs in the chain of abuse when they go to the barrio to score drugs for their socially conscious lifestyle. The world of drugs, of course, with petty chieftains ruling their own tribes of hapless kids.It's an angry film; angry at what it sees as the competing selfishness of different tribes only looking to please a narrow self interest. It begins with two rookie cops who it presents as extraordinarily competent and who just want to do work that untangles knots, but become stifled by bureaucracy and ignorance. They finally enlist in the special ops squad to come out on the other end as merciless rambos as the only way to get something done; direct action the only way to cut through the ambiguity and indifference.It doesn't shy away from showing horrible police brutality and not the Dirty Harry cartoon. Kids are beaten, suffocated with plastic bags, and almost raped with a wooden broom to spill the beans. The point here is that it could have airbrushed this view but didn't and chose instead to confront the reality. Had it come out in the US, it would have been the most controversial films that year.But just as we think that in their frantic chase to restore order they end up brutalizing an innocent kid, torture leads them to the right place. In the end this eye comes with its own blindness. It's all a bit of a mess apart from this like we're seeing parts of different episodes of a season of crime TV.

AbhiMathews Life and death are separated by just a moment. We choose to live in a certain way, to achieve specific goals. When all is said and done, though, will we be happy with all we've accomplished?Working as a police officer surrounded with gangs and crime is a daunting task. Knowing tomorrow could very well be your last day is a fact that will haunt your personal life and remain with you while on duty. Then realizing your own fellow officers and superiors are supporting corruption is an even harder pill to swallow. Frequently we risk our lives fighting for the good cause; attempting to preserve peace in a land filled with turmoil. Sometimes it's hard to discern which side is doing that. BOPE is an extreme special forces unit of the military police designed to handle conflicts with lethal measures. Every day these officers, who are parents, spouses and siblings to others, risk their lives and the lives of others in the name of justice. After extensive fighting and anguish, it comes to a point where you question the efficacy of your work. All the lives you have permanently altered, loved ones you have taken away and the effect this has had on your own family. Whether BOPE or a more rudimentary strategy to decrease crime rates is better is subject to debate for another discussion, but the impact BOPE has on the lives of innocent civilians, both positively and negatively, is remarkable. At the end of the day, after all is finished, will you have fought the good fight? Was there a better, more effective, approach? Tropa de Elite is an enlightening film, not for the violent tactics used or exposure of urban warfare in favelas, but because it reveals the lives of those involved and how they significantly influence each other.

Rafael Togami This movie pictures Brazil's reality in so many different aspects that it's impossible to describe it in a few words. What we watch in it is our everyday... violent events we see on the news and sometimes, unfortunately, we may experience such events in person... or hear them from friends and relatives.It's not just an action movie, it touches deeper trying to show what leads characters to the events depicted in the movie. Jose Padilha (director) successfully presents us stereotypes in such a complex way that they look more than just stereotypes (like "hey, I know a guy just like that character". But maybe it's just because I'm Brazilian).The movie (thanks to Padilha, very well developed) starts with distinct stories about 2 friends just graduating from the police academy, corrupt police officers, wealthy college students and a police elite squad named BOPE (Batalhao de OPeracoes Especiais, Special Operations Battalion). They all relate to each other lightly, but their strong bond is the crime in the city of Rio de Janeiro.The story is narrated by Captain Nascimento, an honest and incorruptible commander of a BOPE battalion. Under his point of view (but enough elements are presented, so viewers aren't restricted to Nascimento's point o view), he describes how the poor, the rich and the corrupt keep spinning the wheel of crime and how endemic it is in Rio de Janeiro.The plot is very well structured and filled with nice subplots (BOPE military training, Pope's visit to Rio, action scenes, drama scenes, twists...), this is a very nice way to see Brazilian's society... not because it's complicated, but because sometimes it's just this simple.The actors in this movie are very good too, it's worth mentioning how Wagner Moura is outstanding as Capt. Nascimento.And the action scenes are very nice too, seems very real.Probably one of my favorite movies.

Jose Cruz Elite Squad is one of the few really good Brazilian movies (over the past 15 years there have been around 4-5 truly good Brazilian movies and only one truly great, City of God). This film is a highly brutal portrayal of the proxy war existing in the crime infested districts of Rio de Janeiro and depicts a deconstruction of the main character, an elite police officer who has to deal with the heavy psychological burden of directing an elite police squad in operations against the heavily armed gangsters and also depicts the process in which the captain Nascimento chooses his successor for this low paid/high risk job among two candidates who reflect differing qualities which he values and which these characters are living embodiment.