Considering this film has two Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Actress, I would recommend going into this film as blind as possible, if that’s enough to convince you to watch the film.
I’m Still Here follows the family of a former congressmen in 1970s Brazil who have to deal with the military dictatorship. They have a happy life, one full of friends and opportunities. But the dangers of the military regime are closing in on their lives and they begin to formulate a plan to leave Brazil, at least for a while. They even send their oldest daughter to England to college to see if that would be a good temporary home for them. But, before they can do that, men show up to their home and take the father, Rubens, in for questioning. The situation does not appear normal as the men won’t say who they are and occupy the house to make sure they stay there. Then, the oldest remaining daughter and the mother, Eunice, are taken in.
In the first 30 minutes, the film is all about set up. It establishes the love that this family has and the impeding dictatorship effectively. This is a long time to get familiar with the family and, while I can see how it would get others really invested in each family member and make the tragedy that unfolds cut that much deeper, it did not do that for me. Knowing what is going to happen makes the film a bit long for the reflective study that it does on the person who was Eunice Paiva. It does take a while to get into the crux of the drama, which is Eunice disguising her grief for the sake of her kids. You can tell she wants to do everything that she can to fight against the injustice and expose the truth of what has happened to her family. She has to make decisions and choices that she can’t explain to her family. What’s more, the ending jumps forward in time in a way that wasn’t emotionally effectively for me, as we feel more distant from their future selves.
The film is thoughtfully made and features lots of well-placed details. There are interesting insert shots of uncomfortable items when they are in a dangerous place that creates a sense of dread and anxiety. The lack of music in some scenes is also effective allowing us to stay with the emotions of the characters and their performances. The lighting and the repetitive framing and editing also emphasize how long she’s been in this one location. (But editing could have been a bit tighter. It’s not that the story is too long but scenes do feel long and others feel like they took too long.)
What holds this film together–and what likely drew enough Academy members to the film to get it into Best Picture–was the promise of Fernanda Torres’ amazing performance and she absolutely fulfills that. She is subtle in a lot of this but brings out a very lived in and often emotional performance. She does a lot of acting with her eyes. The way she stares at people helps you get an exact idea of what she is feeling without her ever having to say what she is feeling. This reveals the internal conflict she is constantly feeling, as she is often framed or cut to in the midst of family situations as she tries to hide how unusual and sad she feels. The strength of having a character who has all these emotions but has to hold them back makes this performance stand out, as she leans into subtly rather than big emotions.
I’m Still Here is available in theatres on January 31st, 2025.
