Avoiding the conventional format for biopics about revered public figures, I’m Still Here explores a specific political moment through the lens of grounded family drama, focusing on a mother’s determination to persevere. The latest from celebrated Brazilian director Walter Salles (City Of God), it depicts the disappearance of a left-wing dissident during Brazil’s military dictatorship. Left behind to pick up the pieces, his wife Eunice Paiva (Fernanda Torres) — the film’s true protagonist — would later become an influential human rights activist.
In 1971, engineer and former congressman Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello) enjoys a prosperous life in Rio de Janeiro, sharing a beachside house with his wife Eunice (Fernanda Torres) and five children. They host parties and play in the sun, but in the background their country's political situation is growing darker. Military helicopters buzz overhead, random checkpoints harass civilian drivers, and the newspapers report ominous tales of foreign diplomats being kidnapped. Then one day Rubens gets taken away for questioning, and the harsh reality of the dictatorship invades his family home.
Fernanda Torres gives a strikingly understated performance.
In later life, Eunice Paiva described her husband’s disappearance as a form of psychological torture. Spirited away by a group of stone-faced government agents, Rubens supposedly leaves “to give a deposition”. A deposition about what, the agents refuse to say. It’s very clearly a pretext, and they won’t tell Eunice when her husband might return.
As the days stretch into weeks, Rubens’ apparent arrest begins to feel more like an abduction. Suspended in limbo with no news of her husband’s whereabouts, Eunice must reshape her life around his absence, supporting her children as a single parent while raising awareness about the government’s misdeeds.
Based on an autobiographical novel by Eunice and Rubens’ son Marcelo (who was 11 years old when his father disappeared), I’m Still Here resonated deeply with audiences in Brazil, who are just a couple of generations removed from the events at hand. It may not provoke such a strong reaction elsewhere. Its subdued tone and slow-moving structure downplay the urgency of the situation, showing an admirable respect for the Paiva family, yet struggling to create a memorable impact. But Fernanda Torres gives a strikingly understated performance in the lead role.
