Elite Squad

Directed by Jose Padilha

This movie is basically the flip side of the far superior "City of God". Where that movie was mostly concerned with the residents of one of Rio de Janeiro's notorious favelas, this movie turns the lens on BOPE, the elite police force, run like a military operation, that wages war on the favela's drug dealers.

Captain Nascimento (Wagner Moura) runs one of the BOPE units, but, as his child's birth draws closer, and his panic attacks more frequent, needs to get out. In order to leave BOPE, one must find and train his successor. Nascimento has two young police in mind, and much of the movie shows them proving that they are incorruptable.

Corruption is the main topic of this film. It shows how, from the guys who give out parking tickets to the people at the top of the force, bribes and extortion are the real work of the police in Rio. When one officer is believed to have been involved in stealing from the Commander, he is taken into the favela to be executed. When bodies are found in one Commander's district, the order goes out to move them to another precinct's jurisdiction. It doesn't take much of a stretch of the imagination to understand why Brazil's cities are so unsafe.

This is an interesting, engaging movie, which, when viewed alongside 'City of God', does much to explain Latin America to a northern audience. I imagine it sparked a lot of conversation and debate when it was released.