I’m Still Here: with a strong and emotional story in his hands, Walter Salles moves with patience and elegance, allowing the film to breathe at every stage. It tells the story, from the point of view of the wife, of the arrest and subsequent disappearance of a former congressman during the military dictatorship in Brazil. The film paints the picture of a loving family, and as the story evolves, that strong base allows the film to hit so hard emotionally.

Fernanda Torres is monumental as the protagonist, a loving wife and mother who must first understand what is going on, and later hold everything together in the name of hope and for the sake of her family; it’s a quiet, contained performance with no false notes. Selton Mello is also quite good as the real-life congressman, a loving father, and comfortable man. In a brief cameo, Fernanda Montenegro shows how a lot can be done with so very little. The kids are all solid; out of them, Luiza Kosovski, as the second eldest child, gets a bit more time and performs quite well.

Aesthetically, the film is very nicely done. The period recreation (by art director Carlos Conti and costume designer Cláudia Kopke) is detailed and balances well the trick of being from a recent past: everything looks right, but it’s not lush and does not call too much attention to itself. Cinematographer Adrian Teijido captures it all beautifully, and editor Affonso Gonçalves’s pace is lovingly patient. The music, both the quiet original score by Warren Ellis, and the licenced songs, is very effective.