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| Doghouse_Reilly |
on Sun 11 Oct 09, 5:14 AM to Doghouse_Reilly's blog.
Yay a movie recommendation! Because I like to share when things are good. 
Tropa De Elite is a Brazilian police/action/crime type thriller thing about members of the BOPA (Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais) who are the sort of police unit you'd end up with if Patrick Bateman and Jack Bauer brainstormed on the matter for an hour or two. The story is based upon a controversial book about the BOPA but although it has grains of truth to it the story is fiction. The methods are not. The story centres upon the predicament of a BOPA captain attempting to find a replacement from two possible candidates so that he can retire to spend time with his new son. Simple premise brilliantly executed. And speaking of brilliant executions the film really works well as a visceral crime story, none of the sissified evidence or procedure that we might be used to here, the BOPA approach to law enforcement is more akin to what you'd expect from the Terminator.
The net result is that not only is the movie a great study of the characters of these men who in order to pursue law and order have sunk as low as their prey, but it's also a bit of an eye opener about a little known corner of the world.
Obviously just being a good film isn't enough for an IC recommendation, and I wouldn't recommend a film on here if it wasn't suitably violent and Tropa De Elite has violence by the ton. The BOPA approach to interrogation is on a whole level of ruthlessness us northern hemisphere folks haven't yet seen and the local criminals are no softies either. The training and selection process for new BOPA recruits is pretty vicious too. It ought to be a dark movie for all that but for some reason it really isn't a downer to watch.
On the Doghouse rating system which I just created this movie rates this smiley face: (^_^) so I guess it must be good.
