Elite Squad (Tropa de Elite)

I've never seen/heard of it, but if Netflix has it, maybe I'll give it a spin.

I checked. It's not on Netflix.

Fantastic movie. It's pretty much City Of God as seen through the eyes of the police, but much rawer and a LOT heavier than I thought it would be.

Had no idea the director did Bus 174. Looking forward to seeing what he does next.

It's now on Netflix. Going to be out on the 28th. Hopefully I can get it soon.

Thanks for the update. I added it to my que.

This is showing tomorrow night here in Atlanta!

http://www.high.org/main.taf?p=4,3,2...&eventTypeId=8

I'm gonna go. Sounds awesome.

Movie is supposed to arrive at my door sometime today.

I was finally able to watch this tonight. This comment pretty much sums it up. Although it's not as sprawling as CITY OF GOD. This was some damn good stuff. Far better action that a lot of the shit out there. But it was nuts to see the tactics the cops used to get what they needed done. Brutal brutal stuff.

And a reintroduction of the man inside burning tires ala The Shield.

I teach English to students from a handful of countries, one of them being Brazil, and every time the subject of movies comes up, this is the one they recommend. Even more so than City of God, which they all seem to dislike on the grounds that it paints their country as a crime-ridden slum. I tell them they're crazy, that it's just an amazing film and that nobody assumes the entirety of gigantic Brazil is like that, but whatever.

Point is, it's coming out on DVD and soon those buggers'll have to stop acting so smug.

I worked with a guy who was from Rio in school. He wasn't too pleased when I referenced City of God. Oddly enough my supervisor at my old job was also from Rio. He suggested this movie.

Well, I got to see it last night, too (on a big screen in a theater full of trendy Latinos/as, no less!) I liked it, and while I can see some valid comparisons, it didn't feel anywhere near as epic as City of God. Yeah, the structure could be considered similar, with the two rookies and their evolving lives. It didn't have the same impact on me that CoG did, though. Few things do, of course-- that film is a beast. This is some pretty fierce violence and a few good characters, but less of a memorable film, in my opinion.

I'm definitely glad I went to see it. I enjoyed it, and a few of the shootouts were quite badass. I thought about Miami Vice a couple of times as I watched it, but I like that movie better, too.

Certainly worth a rental by any action/crime film fan, though. Thumbs up overall.

Has anyone in here watched City of Men? I have that on my table right now, and considered watching it today. Maybe later this week.

There's City of Men the movie and then there's City of Men the tv show. I tried watching the tv show. The camerawork was going to make me throw up.

Yeah, this is the movie that I have on DVD (Thanks, Nick!). Still haven't watched it.

I remember reading that John Woo initially wanted to make Hard Boiled as a way of balancing his previous films that had deified gangsters. That he chose to portray super cops as well as super gangsters. Despite the films having different directors Elite Squad feels like a similar counterpoint to City of God. City of God showed the rampant, all consuming, cancer of crime within Brazil and Elite Squad shows a natural reaction to that climate of crime.

 

The cops of Elite Squad are kind of terrifying, but the Rio presented by the film almost feels like it is constructed of moral absolutes. City of God talks of the power of crime and Elite Squad talks about the weakness of law. It's why the film works for me because it's a fascinating, unflinching, look at a destructive cycle of violence that you don't often see. The BOPE as presented in the film are almost as bad as the gangsters, the only thing seperating their brutality and singular nature a certain honesty. They're essentially sociopaths, but there's no veneer there, they're an honest reaction to an insurmountable problem. The criminals meanwhile use similar tactics to the cops but ingrain themselves within society, trying to settle themselves at the heart of Rio. 

 

It's a genuinely amazing film to watch just because it absolutely bristles with energy. The handheld style gives the film a lot of versimilitude and at times the film feels like a spiritual sequel to Heat or Collateral.