Tropa de Elite (José Padilha, 2007)

The notion of mega-city slums as inaccessible warzones is the staple fare of many science-fiction dystopias, but can lay claim to being a representation of modern reality in Brazil's favelas. While the unfortunately gung-ho-monikered Elite Squad may be accused of milking this stage for ultraviolence, there is a seriousness at the heart of the film too that sets it apart from mere exploitation, treating the local drug lords, corrupt police and hopelessly ramshackle overall milieu with a cynical nihilism, embodied in the disintegrating psyche of its narrator and lead character, the sadistic Captain Nascimento of the unit of the title. Despite accusations to the contrary, it cannot be seen as a standard-bearer for state repression in the face of societal collapse, as the marauding police are hardly better than the gangsters they hunt, but it could have done with taking a step back and presenting a wider view, as was the case in the similarly-themed, but far more subtle, City of God.

5/10