Review | marighella

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Any analysis about the film "marighella", directed by Wagner Moura and starring the singer Seu Jorge, would necessarily have to choose an approach out of three, or at least treat them separately. The first one, obviously, involves analyzing it as a cinematographic work, because “marighella” is, above all, a dramatization, no matter how much one tries to assign it another objective.

The second would be to see it as a biographical (and therefore historical) document, because we are talking about a real persona whose actions had an impact on our history. And the last one would be to approach it as a manifestation of our current reality and of how this work dialogues with the Brazil we live in, which invariably affects its relationship with the public. However, in order to fully understand the relevance of the release of this film (which had already suffered repeated delays), a broad view of the three approaches is necessary, even if considered separately.

"marighella”, Wagner Moura's directorial debut, is above all an action film. Yes, just like "Elite squad”, which consecrated him in the role of Capitão Nascimento, a character both admired and misunderstood (since it was never the intention, neither of the then actor Moura, nor of the director José Padilha, that he was considered a hero).

And as an action movie, it is a work of extreme competence, whether its critics like it or not. There is nothing missing for lovers of the genre. Shootings, explosions, graphic violence, a climate of constant tension, tragedy, sacrifice and loss, and even a long-shot intro, all masterfully directed by Wagner Moura. The shootings are raw and realistic. The shocking torture scenes are capable of infuriating anyone with the slightest sensitivity.

The film's locations in São Paulo, Rio, Salvador and other places serve as the stage for the plot that the film presents: the insurrection of the ALN (Aliança Libertadora Nacional), then led by the guerrilla leader and former deputy Carlos Marighella, against the regime. Brazilian military. The 155 minutes of the film go by quickly, not getting tiring at any time, since the pace was perfectly calculated by the director. Perhaps the only technical aspect in which the film lacks is in some overly explicit speeches by the protagonist who, despite being an educated man known as a writer and poet, may seem excessively pamphleteering to part of the audience.

The cast is exquisite and one of the highlights of the film. Seu Jorge clearly shows his best work as an actor (although some dialogues leave an impression that they could sound more natural) and his work evolves a lot throughout the film. The others, first-rate actors in the national dramaturgy, make it even difficult to point out any highlights, although Adriana Esteves (as Clara Charf, wife of Marighella), Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos (as Almir, Marighella's fighting partner), Herson Capri (like journalist Jorge Salles), and Bruno Gagliasso (like Deputy Lúcio-Fleury) are in the best shape of their careers.

The film is brightened by the cast, which delivers tense, shocking, sentimental scenes and an undeniably emotional ending. Humberto Carrão, Bella Carnero and Guilherme Ferraz also deliver great performances as the members (actors' namesakes) of the ALN, but an additional highlight can be given to Henrique Vieira, who delivers a very sincere interpretation of Frei Henrique.

It is always necessary to keep in mind, however, that “Marighella” is not a documentary, but a dramatization. The film extrapolates reality and adds elements of fiction to what is supposed to be historical truth. Several private moments portrayed in the lives of Marighella and other ALN members are resources to situate the viewer, in addition to bringing humanity to the characters, making them identifiable, with real families and feelings (which they all were, regardless of how they prefer to categorize them). los), and we have no way of guessing how they actually happened.

The controversy over Marighella's skin color (in her own words, "a Bahian mulatto") arises from a political choice, since it is an approach that emphasizes Marighella's African origin (son of a black mother and white father). ), following the opposite path that Brazilian cinema normally takes (Wagner Moura's first choice was the rapper Mano Brown, with a skin tone closer to that of the real Marighella).

Other artistic licenses are in the tapes that Marighella would have recorded for her son (which never existed in real life), another resource used by the director to bring humanity to the characters, as well as a clever way to use moments of explanatory narrative for the viewers. Wagner Moura embraces these historical controversies in the name of artistic freedom, even though he is aware of the possibility that part of the public may misinterpret his objective.

It is a fact that the film, at times, takes on a Manichean tone, but the memory of the reality of that period for those who were persecuted, tortured or killed by it is undeniable, and avoiding showing its cruelty would be incoherent.
The last aspect to be analyzed, the relevance of the work to the present day, is perhaps the most controversial point. "marighella” is a political work, that is undeniable, but it would be wrong to say that it is a proponent of some ideology, whether left or right.

Wagner Moura's work has the very clear intention of conveying the image of a struggle against dictatorship and oppression, rather than actually propagating the idea of a new communist dictatorship. On the contrary, it is constantly mentioned that, among the motivations of Marighella and the ALN, are the deposition of a president elected by the people (João Goulart) and the institution of a dictatorial regime that persecuted his opponents, therefore, regardless of what if you believe that Marighella defended in real life, the fight that the film shows is for freedom and democracy.

As Marighella says in her interview with French journalist Conrad Detrez (pictured in the film), when asked if he was a Maoist, Stalinist or Trotskyist, “I am Brazilian”, an idea that seems strange to our days, in which one tries to link to the left an anti-national idea, but that manifests itself in an explicit nationalism by the members of the ALN in “Marighella”, which did not demonstrate anti-patriotic tendencies, but anti-dictatorial ones.

Perhaps the public part of the audience is disturbed by the humanization of Marighella, as if he should be portrayed as a demon with a forked tongue and hooves. They forget that he was human and that he fought for an ideal that he considered fair (regardless of whether you agree with him or not). The humanization of controversial historical figures is a resource that has been used in cinema and literature in recent years (perhaps the most famous case was the film "The fall”, which deals with the last hours of Adolf Hitler; and this is not, at any moment, an equating of Hitler with Marighella, undeniably different personas and antagonistic in their positions), showing that such people would simply be people, without exempting them from any of their mistakes or faults.

However, those who consider such figures as their “historical enemies” tend to have them represented in a two-dimensional way, in a typical Manichaeism of good and evil, perhaps fearing that the recognition of their humanity might arouse some sympathy. In addition, there is also a concern on the part of the public to do the opposite, that is, to rehabilitate the image of the military dictatorship, attributing the blame for the deaths, censorship and oppression of this undemocratic regime only to communist guerrillas, not also to journalists. , professors and opposition politicians (as Marighella was long before joining the ALN), putting an eraser on a historical truth that so many sacrificed to reveal.

Some say that the film was made with the intention of polemicizing and provoking. And indeed, he is that, controversial and provocative. Not entirely historical, but real enough to rekindle uncomfortable memories that some prefer to pretend didn't happen; and at the same time, it escapes reality enough to be artistic, an archetypal fable of a man and his partners who had nothing archetypal, being human, fallible like all of us, but who fought for ideals that some may even question, but whose antagonist who persecuted them was definitely real and willing to do anything to keep their power forcibly removed from democracy.

Brutal? Yes, just as it was in her time, as much as some prefer to turn a blind eye to her. Political? To the core, but without idealization or mystification, and definitely more nationalistic than many believe it could be. A portrait of an era wide open to another that is in danger of repeating it. For that alone, Marighella is already worthy of praise.

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