I'm Still Here
Updated: 1 day ago
Walter Salles' return to directing delivers a cinematic and acting achievement

A dictatorship is one of the most traumatic events a country can endure. Art has long attempted to portray the horrors people suffer under such regimes, from the rise of fascism in 1930s Europe to the military dictatorships of Latin America in the 1960s and ’70s. Filmmakers can only hope to convey a fraction of the trauma that millions have endured to younger generations who may be oblivious to these histories. One of the most effective ways to evoke historical empathy is by focusing on a single character—an approach Walter Salles employs in I’m Still Here (2024).
I’m Still Here tells the true story of the kidnapping and disappearance of Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), a former congressman, in 1970s Rio de Janeiro at the hands of the military dictatorship. The film follows Eunice (Fernanda Torres), Rubens’ wife, as she struggles to uncover what happened to him while also shielding her family from the traumatic rupture.
This marks Salles’ first film in 12 years, and the veteran Brazilian director looks into his country’s past as a cautionary reflection on its present. Former president Jair Bolsonaro was an apologist for Brazil’s dictatorship and even attempted a Trump-like coup in the transition of power in 2023 after losing re-election. Authoritarian impulses are rising globally, yet Salles doesn’t frame his film through political or academic rhetoric. Instead, he roots it in emotional resonance, telling a simple yet devastating story of one family.
The first act of I’m Still Here unfolds as a plotless glimpse into the Paiva family’s daily life. We see them playing volleyball on the beach, adopting a stray dog, bickering as siblings do, and parents fretting over their eldest child’s college prospects. This warm familiarity lulls viewers into a sense of security, making them feel as though they could watch an entire film about the happy Paiva family. But Salles uses this comfort to emphasize the sudden and far-reaching devastation of dictatorship. Ruben’s arrest happens abruptly, in an almost matter-of-fact way, shocking in its lack of dramatization. As a viewer, you question how such a mundane moment could mark the last time we see him. It is in this unexpected turn that I’m Still Here shifts its focus to Eunice, who must now shoulder the burden of maintaining dignity and stability for her family.
I’m Still Here belongs entirely to Fernanda Torres. The Brazilian actress delivers an astounding performance in a role that denies Eunice a single moment of overt vulnerability. Salles purposefully removed all of Eunice’s crying scenes to highlight the immense inner strength that the real Eunice had to summon. As a result, Torres must convey doubt, hope, anger, and helplessness while maintaining the stoic exterior of a mother protecting her children. She urges her family to smile for a press photo, displays ingenuity when doors are slammed in her face, and presses forward with resilience and persistence. It’s a masterful performance. Eunice is even given a poetic coda in the film’s final moments, portrayed in old age by Fernanda Montenegro—who, in real life, is Torres’ mother. This intergenerational passing of the torch reinforces the necessity of telling these stories as time moves forward.
I’m Still Here is a stunning achievement, using the story of a single family to illustrate how authoritarianism leaves deep and lasting scars. Paired with Salles’ tender direction and Torres’ tour-de-force performance, I’m Still Here is one of 2024’s best films.
9.0/10
Hozzászólások