I’m Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui - 2024)

Amy and I really liked this intense, Oscar-winning (Best International Feature) movie about a woman whose family is torn apart in the 1970s Brazilian military dictatorship. Fernanda Torres, nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, gives us love and determination as the young matriarch, and everyone else, including the actors playing her children, is terrific. In all, this has 50 awards and 63 other nominations, including the Best Picture Oscar nomination, which is rare for a foreign film.

Walter Salles directs from the screenplay adapted by Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega from the 2015 memoir by Marcelo Rubens Paiva (one of the children). We commented at the time how sweet the first act is, showing happy times.

Here's where I usually talk about the music, but Warren Ellis' score is not available anywhere, even though I jotted down that I liked it. If they had asked me, I would've told them to post it!

 

I was also a fan of the cinematography by Adrian Teijido and the period wardrobe by Cláudia Kopke.

Salles was last blogged for On the Road and Ellis, a musical partner of Nick Cave, for Blonde.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are very much present, both averaging 97%. We rented it on Apple TV on March 16 and it's still available to rent there and elsewhere.