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Published: February 10th 2009
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Today I wanted to talk about a film I saw a few weeks ago - Tropa de Elite.
Synopsis: In a Rio de Janeiro riddled with violence, the corrupt conventional police appears incapable of fighting drug cartels and gangs in the favela. This is where enters the BOPE - Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais (Batalion of Special Police Operations). Captain Nascimento of the BOPE wants to retire, but in order to do so he needs to find a suitable replacement. Amongst the contenders to enter this extremely selective force are Neto and André, two old friends who could not stand the corruption of the convential police. Things start to get (even more) intense when André, who also studies law and befriends some rich Cariocas working in an NGO in the favelas, appears on the front page of a newspaper thus revealing him as a policeman. Reprisals are taken against the NGO and violence escalades as the BOPE attempts to avenge one of their fallen ones.
This is a very limited account of the film, but it should do. It was especially interesting because it was very realistic and became extremely polemic within Brazilian society. It became the most viewed
The BOPE coat of arms
A skull with two guns and a dagger Brazilian film in Brazil, beyond Cidade de Deus (City of God), to which it is often compared. Firstly, realistic: not many films manage to convey the terrific amount of violence that can occur in the favelas. This one was special as it also revealed largely the methods used by the BOPE, which has no qualms when it comes to summarily killing gang members and torturing them to extract information. In addition, the film raised many questions: are torture and brutal killing acceptable methods in a democratic society even against the most ruthless of enemies within the State? Are the members of the BOPE heroes - given the zeal with which they try to fight criminals, and their imperviousness to corruption - or murderers? Who is responsible for the continuing strength of drug gangs? Members of the BOPE believe it is largely the upper classes who are the main consumers of cocaine and other illicit substances that, for all their politically correct NGO work, fuel that trade. One of the most shocking, yet interesting moments of the film is when the BOPE intervenes in a favela private party with mostly upper-class students smoking joints and sniffing coke. Before asking any questions,
the BOPE shoots down one man, and asks one of the students who killed him. As the terrified young man answers "one of you guys", he yells: "No! It is you! You killed him! And every time you take a puff of that joint, you put a weapon in a child's hand!" (more or less).
The magazine Veja (centre-right) had a few interesting polls, which I can only remember approximately. In substance, it showed that about half the Brazilian population thought that methods used by the BOPE were legitimate. Most people considered Captain Nascimento as a hero, and almost everyone thought that the film represented reality accurately.
Closing the article on a generalisation, I think I mostly agree that it is down to consumers - rich Brazilians, Europeans and Americans - to avoid buying these drugs as the money goes straight into the pockets of dealers that ruthlessly control areas as big as cities, away from any State legitimacy. Drug barons also buy to a small extent the sympathy of the local population with some small material improvements and 'protection' where the State offers none. However, one could also make the argument that if drugs were legalised, that
trade would progressively come under State control and would dry up funding for gangs. That's a pretty rocky argument though.
I want to finish the article with a couple of ironic observations. At Sussex University, Coca Cola was banned from all Student Union outlets on the grounds that it was guilty of violence against trade union members in Colombia. I won't say that it was necessarily a stupid idea - it is a defendable one, boycott is a legitimate option, and I really can't taste the difference between Coca Cola and Virgin Cola. However, it is funny to see how a lot of students so prompt to denounce the vices of large multinational companies (which happen to also provide many - legal- jobs to people), are also OK with taking drugs despite those financing many worst actions.
Secondly, as I hinted earlier, the film suggested that a large cause of gang prevalence in favelas was the drugs trade, but more generally the strength of the black market as a whole. Polling showed that most viewers agreed with that. Where's the irony here? Well, data showed that 80% of viewers watched it on pirate DVD versions.
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