Kurt has been raving about this film for what seems like for ever and it looks like it may finally be making its way to a theater near you.
Directed by José Padilha, who previously directed Bus 174 which has also been mentioned around here as a must watch, and adapted from a book by Academy Award nominated Bráulio Mantovani, Tropa de Elite (AKA Elite Squad) is oozing with prestige and from the looks of the trailer and the general talk, it lives up to the expectations.
The film is based on a semi-fictional account of the life of two men in the Special Police Operations Battalion of the Rio de Janeiro Military Police as they try to clean up both the city and the police force. It looks absolutely gorgeous, reminiscent of City of God, but with even more violence than before.
I’m not quite sure what The Weinsteins are holding on to this for. Tropa de Elite is scheduled to open in the UK on August 8th but I don’t see a US release date anywhere on the calendar. I’m assuming they’re waiting for an Oscar run later in the year. Time to start researching where to buy the recently released DVD.
Check out the trailer tucked under the seat!
Damn Weinsteins. Delay almost everything.
Any release of this film is simply KICK-ASS.
*hehe*
I couldn’t wait. I just finished ordering the DVD. Will be here in 10-25 days. (?)
At least it’s better than a few months.
I am currently attending the Edinburgh International Film Festival and I have this on my schedule:) Next to Shane Meadows’ newest film Somers Town (which I just saw today and is great) this is my most anticipated.
Richard was saying it’s on his schedule for tomorrow. I’m jealous.
It certainly sounds interesting.
The super-facile description is “CITY OF GOD meets THE WIRE” But there is a lot of macho and brutality in there. Warning, this one is not for the faint of heart.
And while you are at it, check out the directors previous BUS174 which is also like THE WIRE in that it takes one incident and extrapolates it to the entire socio-ecology of Rio. It is very, very good.
Btw Kurt I want to thank you for introducing me to The Wire. I hadn’t really heard of it before I heard you mention it as being amazing on a few of the MP/RT podcasts. I am currently on the second half of season 3 (and I only started watching it less than a month ago!) and it is one HECK of a show. So detailed and very real feeling – it’s certainly tiding me over until Lost returns next year. Thanks a bunch, Kurt:)
Glad to hear it Ross. I came late to the party myself (started when the third season was airing) and got onto the show from other people who were pointing out how complex and understated it was…)
The cult is pretty big now, but nowhere near the size of successful shows like Lost, 24, and The Sopranos.
im looking for the i sheet movie poster for this film can anyone offer a suggestion…………..an amazing film.
wow, I did a quick search around the web (including my favourite local poster shop (Movie Poster Warehouse) and nobody has anything.
I suggest trawling the Portugese sites with some help from babelfish (or Marina, who is fluent) and you might get lucky. Likewise, and this is a long shot, search through the Berlinale archives, as it won the Silver Bear there, in 2007.