
In 1970, the Paiva family rented a house in Rio de Janeiro, a house where their friends often visited. Many of those friends were like minds politically, bruising on topics like a situation that involves prisoner releases. The house is also subject to crank calls from those asking for their patriarch, Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello). Eventually, the police ask him to turn himself in for routine questioning, which is a suspicious request. The police also arrest the family’s matriarch, Eunice (Fernanda Torres), keeping her and questioning her for five straight days. This short prison stint means she can’t protect her children, especially the one they arrested alongside her. They let her out but when she asks for Rubens’ release, they deny that they ever arrested him.
This is Walter Salles’ first Brazilian-set narrative in twelve years, getting its story from Rubens and Eunice’s son Marcelo’s recollection of the events. Family is at the forefront of I’m Still Here – Eunice trying to keep herself and her family together. She mostly does a good job of keeping her composure with the exception of a few moments. Besides, it’s not the easiest thing to take care of children who put their demands over others. Days turn into decades, Rubens is still missing, yet Eunice is making the most of a productive life. She spends the rest of her life raising awareness of how the elite won’t help recover the bodies of the missing prisoners. As Eunice grows into an old woman (Torres’ mother Fernanda Montenegro), she holds onto hope and justice.
Rubens serves as a phantom presence in I’m Still Here, Mello doing thankless work as a man worth remembering. He’s a tangible presence during the film’s first act, which is also its most interesting, form wise. Joy turns into political conversation, a whiplash of one tone to another in ways I can relate to. Most people who grew up in the global south understand politics and its connections to generational trauma. When Rubens disappears, Eunice’s pain reminds me of people in my family and all the friends they lost. Salles captures this through Eunice’s anger, one that she, for the most part, can release through controlled bursts. Eunice is one of this decade’s most compelling protagonists thanks to Torres’ work, deserving that Oscar nomination that she got. I write this despite of the controversy around her.
Yes, Eunice is one of the characters at the forefront in I’m Still Here, choosing foreground over background. It’s a film that, allegedly, chooses to depict family drama over shedding light towards Brazil’s recent history. A film that garners universal acclaim, it has its share of critics who have some nitpicks I understand. I also allow myself to disagree with those people and their nitpicks because I see something that’s deeper. This film has a mosaic approach, especially during moments that show the children and how different they are. Their faces betray an innocence intact even while living in a place and time that inherently corrupts. The camera work and the score also reinforce the film’s subtlety as it nudges viewers towards deeper emotions.
I’m Still Here is available to watch in select Canadian theatres.
- Rated: PG-13
- Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
- Release Date: 1/31/2025
- Directed by: Rodrigo Teixeira, Walter Salles
- Starring: Fernanda Montenegro, Fernanda Torres, Selton Mello
- Produced by: Rodrigo Teixeira, Walter Salles
- Written by: Murilo Hauser, Walter Salles
- Studio: Conspiração Filmes, Globoplay