I’m Still Here
Walter Salles ’ political dramaI’m Still Here(Ainda Estou Aqui , in the original Portuguese ) has deservedly earned external acclaim and Oscar nods for its moving portrayal of lifetime under Brazil ’s former dictatorship . The movie strongly depicts the push disappearance of retired politician Rubens Paiva in 1971 , and the effect this turn of events has on his family . It ’s anchored by a remarkable operation in the central part of Eunice Paiva , the married woman of Rubens and mother of the family , who ’s go out to pick up the part following her husband ’s arrest .
What makesI’m Still Here , which recently break the US box office disc for a Brazilian movie , even more powerful is its base in world . Salles renders the actual news report of Eunice Paiva and her family onscreen with meticulous care to detail . Rubens Paiva really was the matter of a mellow - visibility disappearance showcase linked to Brazil ’s military regime . Themovie is based on a memoirby novelist Marcelo Paiva , the Logos of Rubens and Eunice , about what happened to his family .
I’m Still Here Is Based On The True Story Of The Paiva Family
It Centers On The Disappearance Of Husband And Father Rubens Paiva
Marcelo Paiva ’s book of memoirs , also calledAinda Estou Aqui , was published in 2015 , and was wide praise for its delineation of the writer ’s mother as a stoical figure of resiliency in the face of brutal authoritarianism . However , the memoir has a broader focus than theBest Picture - nominated movie version ofI’m Still Here , with the disappearing of Rubens Paiva only part of its story . What ’s more , this part from the linear perspective of a tyke who had small cognition or understanding of what had befall to his father .
Plenty of great picture are fictional , but when it comes to politics , the rightful events have enough drama and machination to make compelling film .
In Salles ’ flick , we see things almost exclusively from the position of Eunice Paiva , and her husband ’s fade is the sole focal point of the story . Nevertheless , the movie does n’t retell events , stay close both to the account of what happened related in Marcelo ’s memoir and retrospective historical records of the family ’s ordeal .
What Happened To Rubens Paiva In Real Life
He Was Tortured And Murdered By The Brazilian State
Rubens Paiva was elected as a deputy to the National Congress of Brazil in 1962 , as a member of the Brazilian Labor Party ( PTB ) . AsI’m Still Herealludes to , Paiva went into expat when his position in congress was revoked following the 1964 military coup d’etat in Brazil , but returned in 1965.He then played a role in facilitating covert correspondence between exile adversary of the military dictatorshipand their syndicate members in Brazil . This correspondence is the message of the “ deliveries ” to Paiva ’s fellowship home during the movie .
Brazil ’s military one-man rule continued until 1985 , and the country ’s first popular presidential election since the putsch d’état was held in 1989 .
Although he was n’t directly involve in any political activity or armed struggle against the regime , the channel of communicating that Paiva provided for political exiles was enough for the state to suspect him of subversion . He really was arrested at his dwelling house in Rio de Janeiro without warning , as we see find inI’m Still Here , on January 20th 1971 . That was the last metre any of his category saw him . The film ’s postscript is right to claim that Paiva was drink down on the first or second solar day after his arrest , in army detainment .
testimony of other prisoners and military official stationed at the Center for Internal Defense ( DOI - CODI ) where Paiva was taken in January 1971 suggest he died from injury bring down during acts of torment .
accord to a resolution passed this yr by Brazil ’s National Justice Council , his death was “ unnatural ” , “ violent ” , and due to the Brazilian State ( viaAgência Brasil ) . testimonial of other captive and military officials stationed at the Center for Internal Defense ( DOI - CODI ) where Paiva was taken in January 1971 suggest he died from accidental injury inflicted during human action of torture . As the movie ’s addendum explains , his body has never been recovered , and was likely thrown into the ocean . A recentBBCreport lists those probably responsible for torturing and defeat Paiva , none of whom have ever been held accountable for their actions .
What Happened To Eunice Paiva & Her Children
They Had To Carry On Their Lives With Rubens Missing
InI’m Still Here , Eunice Paiva and her daughter Eliana are nab and take to the same DOI - CODI location where their father was ab initio halt , in the days after his disappearing . These events happened , andEunice Paiva was only released from her jail mobile phone 12 days later on . We then see Eunice desperately search for tether about her husband ’s whereabouts and strong-arm condition , before she receive the news she ’s been dreading . A family friend and political activist informs her that Rubens has been dispatch , according to reliable root from inside the state .
Despite this annihilating revelation , Eunice continues to manage her household , proceed the last of her hubby secret from their children and further them to smile for photo . The extent of her stolidity inI’m Still Herefeels farfetched , until the veridical translation of a 1971 photograph featuring Eunice and her children appears at the movie ’s end . There , we see the family smiling as if they do n’t have a fear in the world , even though their husband and father has disappeared off the face of the earth , and Eunice and Eliana have just been free from a torture center .
" We get touches of the political atmosphere throughout the film , but it ’s more of a catalyst than a dominating presence . It was a smart decision to focus on the Paiva family and the effect Peter Paul Rubens ’ disappearance had . “- Mae Abdulbaki -ScreenRant ’s review ofI’m Still Here
I’m Still Here is set during the early 1970s military dictatorship in Brazil, focusing on the Paiva family. As the regime intensifies, Rubens, Eunice, and their five children live in an open house by the beach in Rio. Their lives are upended when Rubens is taken for questioning and does not return.
Peter Paul Rubens was n’t officially declared deadened until 1996 , follow decennium of campaigning by his wife . Because of this issue , the family had no access to his cant accounts , and were forced to hire out their voluptuous Francisco Villa in Rio de Janeiro while moving in with Eunice ’s parent in São Paulo .
Eunice , meanwhile , train as a lawyer , becoming an advocate for the verity about disappearances under Brazil ’s military dictatorship , as well as for the right of autochthonic community . Her Logos Marcelo support a spinal injury in 1979 that give him without the use of his legs . He went on to become an honor - winning source , publishing 19 plays for the degree and projection screen , and 17 books , the fifteenth of which wasI’m Still Here .
How Accurate I’m Still Here Is To The True Story
The Movie Matches Reality, Aside From One Important Detail
The adjustment ofI’m Still Here , which maderecord - break history at the 2025 Oscars , is sorely accurate in its portrayal of what really happened to Rubens and Eunice Paiva . From the manner of Rubens ’ arrest to the insistency statement Eunice gives upon receiving his death credential , Salles and screenwriters Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega stick to the true storybehind the film . Eunice Paiva lived with Alzheimer ’s disease for the final 15 years of her lifetime , just as the film depict , and exit from the condition four years after the moment captured in the last slam ofI’m Still Here .
While Fernanda Torres recreate Eunice Paiva for the bulk ofI’m Still Here , Fernanda Montenegro plays the protagonist at the age of 85 , in the last scene of the movie .
Still , Hauser and Loreja needfully take sure liberties with their handwriting , by inventing plausible scenes to make full in one or two of import gap in Eunice Paiva ’s story that were n’t enter before her demise . The panorama in which Eunice is evidence that her husband has been toss off , for instance , is a fictionalized variation of what actually happened . There ’s no record book of her ever being informed about the destruction of Rubensin this means , and it ’s potential that she was never given a definitive reply about what happened to him until she received his decease credentials in 1996 .
The Oscars 2025 Best Picture nominees admit a few surprises , and one of the improbable make pic holds a singular disk in comparison .
The details she ’s given about Rubens Paiva ’s body perchance being befuddle into the ocean could n’t have been colligate to her in 1971 . His torso was disinter and reburied at sea in 1973 , consort to the testimony of a former U. S. Army general ( viaO Globo).I’m Still Hereburdens Eunice Paiva with the duty of having to blot out the sure thing of her husband ’s demise from her youngster , while bringing them up , earning a livelihood for the family , and studying practice of law . The pic emphasizes her distress , as the wife who stay tormented by her married man ’s disappearing for the relief of her living .
beginning : Agência Brasil;BBC;O Globo
Your Rating
Your comment has not been saved
Cast
I ’m Still Here is set during the former 1970s military dictatorship in Brazil , focus on the Paiva family . As the regime intensifies , Rubens , Eunice , and their five nestling subsist in an exposed house by the beach in Rio . Their lives are upend when Rubens is taken for questioning and does not recall .
