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| Wagner Moura in "Elite Squad: The Enemy Within" |
Returning to the big screen is the sequel to José Padilha's Elite Squad (the controversial 2008 Berlin Film Festival-winner) and this story is no less a roller-coaster and high-octane feature film than its predecessor. The film is also a nail-biting standalone thriller drawn straight from the headline news in Rio de Janeiro and Brazil in general. In the story more than a decade has passed since Colonel Nascimento (Wagner Moura) has been promoted from captain of BOPE - the rabid military police who shoot first and don't have any questions - to Chief of Rio's intelligence bureau, part of a political manoeuvre to sideline his hard-line efforts to combat the drug cartels. His ex-wife is now remarried to ambitious human rights advocate Fraga who is elected as a state Legislator, and his relationship with his teenage son is under stress. In a narrative that reflects the TV series The Wire, the professional and personal changes in the life of Colonel Nascimento broaden the perspective and horizon of the original film, shifting the focus from the drug wars in the favelas to police vice and political corruption at the highest levels. This film is just as relentlessly paced as its' predecessor and dramatically even richer explaining why it is the highest grossing film ever in Brazil.
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