http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0861739/User Rating: 8.4/10 (3,188 votes)
In
1997, before the visit of the Pope to Rio de Janeiro, Captain
Nascimento from BOPE (Special Police Operation Battalion) is assigned
to eliminate the risks of the drug dealers in a dangerous slum nearby
where the Pope intends to be lodged. Captain Nascimento is trying to
find a man to replace him because his wife is pregnant and he intends
to quit the command and become a trainer of the new recruits.
Meanwhile, the two idealistic friends Neto and Matias join the Military
Police force expecting to become honest policemen and fight the
criminals. However, they see only corruption, lack of competence and
stupid bureaucracy in the Military Police, and after a serious incident
in the Morro da Babilônia, they decide to join the BOPE. The lives of
Capitain Nascimento, Neto and Matias are entwined along the next
months, first in the tough training period and then in action against
drug dealers. Nascimento believes that Neto could be his substitute,
but his impulsive attitudes jeopardizes his choice. Later, the
intelligent Matias seems to be the correct choice, but he needs to
prove that he has heart.
No film has caused such a stir here
since “City of God,” an acclaimed 2002 look at Rio’s favelas, or slums,
from the perspective of drug dealers. “Elite Squad” has made almost
everyone who has seen it squirm, prompting, for example, a debate about
whether hedonistic drug use by Rio’s rich and middle class is to blame
for the city’s war.
The film traces the true story of Operation
Holiness, the 1997 BOPE effort to exterminate a drug gang working in a
favela near the home of Rio’s archbishop. BOPE was tasked with making
the area safe for a brief visit by Pope John Paul II.
During the
four-month operation, BOPE killed about 30 people and arrested 30,
including the two drug kingpins, said Rodrigo Pimentel, a former BOPE
officer who led the operation and co-wrote the book that inspired the
movie. At least two bystanders were among the dead.
Back then,
BOPE had about 120 members and was considered a haven for honest
officers in Rio. The force has grown to more than 400 today, and its
reputation for being incorruptible is fading.
But its reputation
for brutality is almost indisputable. In a city fed up with violent
crime, the movie’s fictional protagonist, Capt. Roberto Nascimento, has
been lionized by many here for his ruthless, deadly style in taking on
criminals.
It is not unlike the way Americans have grown to
admire the fictional Agent Jack Bauer of the television series “24,”
whose no-holds-barred style strikes a chord in a society on edge over
terrorist threats. Both men are deeply troubled. Captain Nascimento,
played by the actor Wagner Moura, suffers from wrenching panic attacks
and struggles to separate his violent night world from his family life.
