By John Corrado

In his latest film I’m Still Here, which received a surprise Best Picture nomination at the Oscars, Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries) offers a portrait of life during Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s through the lens of mainly being a family drama.

Salles’ film serves as a biography of Eunice Paiva (played in the film by Fernanda Torres), whose husband Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello) was taken during Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s, leaving her to seek answers about his fate. Themes of family and resilience run throughout the screenplay by Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega, which is based on a 2015 memoir written by their son Marcelo Rubens Paiva.

The early scenes are all about establishing their seemingly idyllic family life in Rio. The Paiva family has five kids who hang out at the beach all day, and they host house parties at night with their socialite friends. But reminders of living under a military dictatorship loom large, from checkpoints and random car searches, to news reports of the Swiss ambassador being kidnapped by revolutionaries.

It’s this event that partially sets the stage for Rubens, a former congressman who fled after the 1964 coup d’état, to be abducted and taken in for questioning. Armed men show up at the Paiva household one day, shattering their peaceful existence. As much as I’m Still Here is about Rubens’ abduction at the hands of the government, it’s also about the impact on those left behind, and the family members who are left picking up the pieces and searching for answers in the wake of these forced disappearances.

As such, Salles’ film serves as an emotional portrait of a family in flux, set against this dark historical backdrop. Salles’ work lives and breathes in the juxtaposition between these happy moments with the family together, and the impending darkness that shatters it. Adrian Teijido’s free-flowing camerawork opens up the spaces inside the Paiva family home in an evocative way, including moments meant to mimic old Super 8 home movies shot by daughter Vera (Valentina Herszage).

The film moves at a deliberate pace, capturing time passing with growing uncertainty. It’s mostly effective. The narrative choices in the last act do feel a bit more conventional in terms of their more typical biopic structure (making that Best Picture nomination perhaps a little less surprising), as the story jumps ahead in time and loses some momentum. But the strong performances and technical elements are enough to carry the film through.

At the centre of it all is Torres, who delivers an emotional performance as both wife and mother, and received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for the role. Some of the most impactful moments are when she is trying not to show too much fear or distress of front of the younger kids, putting on a brave face despite all but knowing her husband’s fate. A moment when she chooses to smile leaves an impact. We see Eunice’s resolve become strengthened over the course of the film, with everything she is forced to endure, and Torres does an excellent job of conveying it.

Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)

I’m Still Here opens exclusively in theatres in limited release on January 31st, including at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto. It’s being distributed in Canada by Mongrel Media.