Hit movie depicts violence in Rio slums as Brazilian military mounts major anti-gang operation
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A new film depicting violent conflicts between gangs and police over control of the slums above Rio de Janeiro is breaking box-office records in Brazil. ‘Tropa de Elite 2,’ or ‘The Elite Squad 2,’ is a sequel to a 2007 film about military police special forces in Rio state known by the acronym BOPE, or also, the Skulls.
Directed and co-produced by filmmaker Jose Padilha, the film revisits the original ‘Tropa de Elite’ story of a Skulls commander named Nascimento (played in both films by Wagner Moura) as he battles gangsters entrenched in Rio’s favelas. By late November, ‘Tropa de Elite 2’ helped push box-office receipts in Brazil 18% above the total from 2009, Bloomberg reports.
You can see the trailer here. Readers are warned that it contains some graphic images.
The movie’s release in October came a month before President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva authorized a military-led invasion of the Complexo do Alemao slums, sparked by a series of attacks against police stations. Fifty people died in the siege, including three police officers, Marcelo Soares and Chris Kraul reported in The Times. Here’s an Associated Press video report on the raid.
Brazil, which is scheduled to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, is under pressure to regain control of large sections of territory in its second-largest city that have long been ruled by powerful gangs. From the Times story:
Violence had swept over many of Rio’s slums the previous week after state police established units in a dozen favelas, a challenge to the impunity with which many of the drug gangs had operated. The units are seen as the first step toward establishing a stronger state presence in the slums, an effort that will include more schools and health clinics.
Much of the enforcement action is directed at the city’s most powerful gang, the Red Commandos, formed in 1979 in prisons, where political prisoners taught common criminals guerrilla tactics.
There are economic implications for Rio as well, Reuters reported, as the city’s high crime rate costs it as much as $100 billion a year. Police and soldiers are now in control of Alemao, and services are slowly trickling in to residents. The government announced it would keep soldiers in the slums for at least six months, The Times reported.
-- Daniel Hernandez in Mexico City
Video: A trailer for the film ‘Tropa de Elite 2.’ Credit: YouTube