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Thanks for the memories!

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Absolutely the worst movie.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

In 1964, the military deposes the democratically elected Brazilian government. By 1969, the military has imposed a police state. Friends Fernando Gabeira and César decide to fight back by joining revolutionaries. The group MR8 is led by Maria. César is captured during a bank robbery. Fernando comes up with the plan to kidnap the American Ambassador Charles Burke Elbrick (Alan Arkin). They seek to exchange him for 15 prisoners.I like the mix of characters in the revolutionary group. Each character is well defined and fully complete. It's not that much of a thriller despite a few action scenes. It has some psychological aspects. It's really the interactions within the group and with Alan Arkin that is the most interesting.

A friend of mine, who was a child in Brazil during the time that this film is set, recommended this to me. Thanks Alex, just like Onibus 174, I found this gripping.Whereas Onibus 174 is a straight documentary, this fictionalized reenactment is allowed to let us see and hear things that likely did not happen. The best of those: an inner monologue from the always admirable Alan Arkin as he composes a more banal note to his wife at the behest of his captors.As a result we get a film that is not too preachy, nor too confined by *what actually happened* the bane of many a "true story" come to screen. Of course here what actually happened had inherent high drama. But the key for me getting into this film was that all of those portrayed, are done so with at least a semblance of a conscience. Arkin's ambassador is just beautiful, that and his English helped me to identify with him immensely. His fate is definitely in the balance.But the captors/rebels, and even the police in pursuit of them all have this sense of contrition and concern about what they are doing. There are interesting dynamics among the rebels as well. On a couple of levels you feel a fuse burning slowly throughout the entire film.Hmmm, I'll have to ask my friend (or you can tell me) what the real title of the film means. (Is it something like "O What is this, companero" thus speaking to the doubting conscience of all involved??) Other oddball afterfacts, Stewart Copeland was somewhere in the soundtrack (didn't leap out when I watched it for better or worse). Also I see that the director was also responsible for "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands" hmmm, not a good sign; even as a horny teenager I was leery of that "sex farce". I may be wrong, but I suspect this docudrama will age much better than that.6.5/10

I think that perhaps this film has been undervalued by other IMDb reviewers. What rot they disgorge! This is a finely acted, written and judged movie. Not particularly 'cinematic'; more a use of the medium of cinema to tell a fascinating story of revolutionary activity in pre-democratic Brazil. It is high quality stuff and kept me entertained throughout. The ending narrates the ending of a real life event so I cannot see how they might have made it more exciting for the bored viewer; or indeed less predictable. One criticism is that the film-makers did not successfully conjure an atmosphere of totalitarian oppression -- this supposedly tyrannical regime felt quite benign: you can't *tell* us it's oppressive, you have to *show* us. Make us experience it alongside the characters. As it is the film was less tense, mellower than it could have been, and the viewer does not root for the revolutionaries as much as he might as a consequence. But overall, an excellent and worthwhile film. 6.75/10

When the Brazilian Government is overthrown by a military uprising, the result is a dictatorship over the people. With protests violently broken up on the streets, armed struggle is seen as the only solution and leads to the formation of the 8th October group (MR8). Desiring direct action, Fernando and Cesar join the group and are trained in weaponry and the likes. However during a bank job, Cesar hesitates to kill and is shot and captured by the police, while the others flee. It is this that gives Fernando the idea to kidnap the American ambassador in return for the release of 15 captured revolutionaries and bringing the events to the attention of the world. This film tells the story of the four-day hostage situation in the mid-sixties.I'm not a particularly well-read person and there is a lot of history (even recent history) that I am simply not aware of and this includes the events and times presented in this film. For that reason I cannot really comment on the accuracy or level of detail containing in this telling but what little I have since gleamed from other sources tell me that it is pretty fair and close enough to being accurate. The plot is well told and is made interesting by the attention paid to the people involved in the situation; the drama and tension comes from them rather than false action sequences or stand-offs. The thanks for this should lie with the cast but also with the script that creates the characters and makes them 'real', meaning we find it easier to understand them and feel for the positions they are in. The historical context is well done and I did find it very easy to get engaged in.The characters are where it is at and they are all very 'human'. We are never made to totally root for them because of what they are doing, but we are helped to understand why they are doing this and how hard it is for some of them to actually turn their words into action. Cardoso does this best and he is the real heart of the film and easily the most sympathetic character. He has good chemistry with Arkin, who does well acting in a foreign film. Torres does well to gradually soften her character as the film goes and it makes her more interesting than she was early on. Support is all pretty good with no really weak performances anywhere but the film mostly belongs to these lead three. The direction is good, capturing the feel of the period early on (where stock footage blends seamlessly into the main film) and producing tension without overdoing the style over substance.Overall this is a pretty good film, telling a straight story using the characters to drive it forward and involve the audience. The film has tension but it comes from the people involved and the situations they face in the attempts to do the 'right thing'. The script delivers the characters to the actors and the actors are convincing in their delivery, producing an engaging and interesting film that helps deliver historical relevance in a miniature story.