Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Lancoor A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Luís Felipe Rasmuss de Almeida "Four Days In September" is a brilliant and well-written movie. The year is 1969, and Brazilians are suffering with lack of democracy - that happens because of a dictatorship, which took place in 1964, when a militar junta overthrew João Goulart, the president of Brazil. In 1968, a Non-constitutional act was approved by the government, called Ato Incostitucional 5 (AI5), and by the day this was approved, the press started to be censored, and Brazilian people lost their freedom of speech. The movie starts showing three friends, and two of them decided to protest (and fight using weapons) against the dictatorship. When they've joined MR8 (Movimento Revolucionário 8 de outubro), a communist group against the government, Fernando Gabeira, currently a deputy in Brazil, had the idea to kidnap the American ambassador in Brazil, Charles Burke Elbrick, becoming one of the most famous points in the fight against the dictatorship. This is a must see movie if you really want to know more information about the Brazilian history. The acting is also good, also featuring Alan Arkin (brilliant performance), and Fisher Stevens (who acted as Chuck Fishman in "Early Edition", one of my favorite TV series of all times). Great and must see movie. A masterpiece from Brazilian cinema.

Eumenides_0 Bruno Barreto and screenwriter Leopoldo Serran have created one of the best Brazilian movies I've ever seen. It doesn't have the vicious coolness of Tropa de Elite, or the unusual camera movement and storytelling of Cidade de Deus. In fact it's a pretty classical-looking movie, with a delicate, straightforward story, reserved camera angles and little visual spectacles. But it has a great heart and a better story.In the '60s, when Brazil is living under a dictatorship, a group of young men and women decide to create a revolutionary group to capture the world's attention about the atrocities being committed in their country. Because robbing banks and kidnapping Generals won't break the press' wall of censorship, they decide to aim at a bigger target, one which will have worldwide repercussions: the ambassador of the United States in Brazil.The filmmakers are making a movie depicting one of the worst episodes in the history of Brazil, and yet they manage to find an even-handed way of showing the flaws of both sides. If the regime comes across as brutal, employing torture techniques and repression, the revolutionaries come across as sometimes heartless and willing to do anything to bring attention to their cause.Although the cast was great in general, I loved Alan Arkin's performance as Charles Elbrick, the kidnapped ambassador. He portrayed fragility, coolness under pressure and even dignity. I wish he could have had a bigger role and more lines in Portuguese, which he managed to speak quite perceptibly.In many ways this movie reminds me of Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers, another balanced examination of the two sides in a war for independence. I loved the subplot about a policeman who questions the use of torture in his job, and the way it messes up his personal life. But believing in the cause of defending his country against what he sees as terrorists, he has no other alternative. It's a fascinating look into the other side.All in all, Four Days In September is a great political thriller, reminiscent of the '70s thrillers: slow paced, reserved, rife with ideas, and some good suspense. Anyone who loves movies like The Day of the Jackal, The Three Days of the Condor, or The Conformist, will surely love this Brazilian gem.

jungpfeffer After the dark era of the 1980s - when the only movies being produced locally were, to put it mildly, very erotic - the Brazilian Movie Industry struggled to regain international credibility. And, while "Carlota Joaquina" and "O Quatrilho" clearly paved the way, this is (in my opinion) the production that put Brazil back on the charts. Based on a true story, "O que É isso, Companheiro?" is brought to life by actors who are probably the best performers of the currently generation, and earned an Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. The most amazing aspect of this movie, however, goes unknown by international audiences: two of its main actors (Pedro Cardoso and Luiz Fernando Guimarães) achieved success, in Brazil, through their work as comedians.

Flavio Velame The movie, based on the Fernando Gabeira's novel, is intense, full of action, motion and meaning. How a few young rebels planned and executed the kidnap of the US Ambassador in Rio - on that time, the Embassy was still there. Very well produced and edited, special comments about the sound, with some moments of silence and other with a disturbing noise. An expert crew. Take a look in Pedro Cardoso, who represents Fernando Gabeira. OK, some scenes of the movie are different from the original written version, but I should say it looks really good. But I would never suggest somebody else to try repeating their adventure and kidnap the US Ambassador...