CINEMA: Elite Squad

Shot in the notoriously dangerous favelas of Rio De Janeiro, Elite Squad is one of the most audacious movies you’ll see this year. It follows the fortunes of Brazil’s elite police squad – BOPE – whose members act more like commandos than coppers. That’s because the actual police force are so corrupt they cannot be trusted to go into the favelas and clear out the drug traffickers and gang members (most of whom are giving the cops backhanders to keep them off their turf). But BOPE members are incorruptible, and trained to be brutally efficient soldiers, and everyone in the favelas knows you don’t mess with them.

Neto (Caio Junqueira) and Matias (Andre Ramiro) are two rookie cops who want to join BOPE, but first they must get through boot camp where Captain Nascimento (Wagner Moura) separates the real men from the wimps – only 5 out of the 100 hopefuls will get through BOPE training successfully. However, that’s the easy part, it’s when they are out on the streets the pair realise just how tough they are going to have to be in order to stay alive.

Although Elite Squad is not a documentary, the detail with which it shows the corruption and violence embedded in Rio’s society is astonishing – you’ll forget you are watching actors in a movie and believe this is real life. Apparently, both the cast and crew had to wear bulletproof vests while filming and some members of crew were kidnapped during a carjacking incident, and that sense of danger likely to break out at any moment is palpable throughout.

It’s thrilling and intriguing stuff and knocks spots off generic American cop movies.      Dee Pilgrim