User Reviews

Marighella, despite Seu Jorge's brilliant interpretation, seems like a character suspended in the air; the Brazilian situation and the dictatorship that he was fighting, a fine background, almost unimportant. The acts of the guerrilla and his organization, the Ação Libertadora Nacional (ALN), seem self-motivated, as do those of repression. And so, the film about Marighella thus becomes an action thriller of heroes against villains, without historical support for the heroism of some and the villainy of others: they are on opposite sides, but their reasons are hardly touched. This "hang in the air" is also notable in the ideological field. There are several references to communism, it's true - but almost always from repression, in the form of insult, and almost never from the guerrillas, who only describe themselves as "communists" at the beginning of the film, when Marighella confronts a member of the " The party".

It is also notable that the guerrillas - who in real life suffered defeats, it is true - hardly have their victories explored in the film; they are constantly up against the wall, trying desperately to react and being crushed, almost as if martyrdom is for the guerrillas a choice, not a possibility. The exception is the takeover of Radio Nacional, but events like the kidnapping of Ambassador Charles Burke Elbrick, for which 15 political prisoners living under torture were released, are just another brushstroke of the background. This made the ALN seem like a small group, completely cut off from the masses (which do not exist in the film, except as an expectation, a dream of Marighella) and from the political disputes that, despite the dictatorship, unfold in the country. Anyone watching the film cannot imagine that, in 1968, the ALN had at least 50 militants in São Paulo (not to mention other states), that it carried out agitation and propaganda actions among the masses and that it still had some inherited bases of PCB (Brazilian communist party), especially between metallurgists and railways.

From a strictly artistic point of view, Marighella is a great movie. In addition to exquisite photography, interesting shots and an exciting soundtrack, there are sensitive details in the choice of actors - shepherd Henrique Vieira as Friar Fernando, for example, or Maria Marighella, the guerrilla's granddaughter, playing his first wife. However, none of this reverses the fact that the script leaves Marighella's story still untouched in the list of "stories that history will someday tell", just when, perhaps, we most needed it well told.

Review adapted from: Histórias que a História qualquer dia contará: Crítica de "Marighella", Revista Opera, by Pedro Marin.

This movie is one of a kind in so many aspects. First, it tells an important story about a movement that resisted the dictatorship in Brazil from 1964 to 1985.

Sadly, it is also remarkable by being one of the first movies target in this new cyberwarfare sponsored by the alt-right in Brazil. The movie has a few reviews in IMDB (written by actual people), yet it has a very low score. The score has less to do with the quality of the film, and more with the story it tells. It bothers a lot of fundamentalists in the far-right in Brazil to have a movie that tells an uncomfortable truth about the recent history of an authoritarian country that tries hard to portray itself as a nation of kindness and liberty.

Saw this at the Berlinale 2019, where it was part of the official Competition, for some reason marked "out of competition" hence no candidate for awards. Entertaining, despite the troubles I have with heroism as demonstrated here, implying ample risks for family, friends and accidental bystanders. Of course, such downsides of activism can all be deemed collateral damage, regrettable but necessary and unavoidable for The Cause (with capitals). When countering activists, The Powers that Be (TPtB) go to every imaginable length, often much further than we see here, to achieve their goal of fighting "terrorists", thereby disregarding the sacrafices and aftermath they cause on their turn. Escalation on both sides lurks around the corner, bearing logical and unavoidable consequences.

Having said that, the fights and the successive phases the struggle gets into, are visualized very well in this movie. There are enough recognizable protagonists to feel along with the activists. A point this movie makes very well is that we are invited to reciprobably feel along with those tasked to fight them. Both parties use every means to their disposal, whereby the anti-revolutionaries are just a bit nastier than the revolutionaries. The revolutionaries may have our sympathy given the overreach of power coming from the state, but to throw a bomb into a police station or a government building, as we saw happening, is a sure way to kill innocent people. So, the activists are only marginally less nasty than their enemies who incarcerate, torture and kill as standard tools-of-the-trade to achieve their goal.

History may have proven these activists correct in hindsight. We, fully aware of the outcome, can easily be convinced that the activists were indeed Good, and those fighting them were Bad (or at least Ugly). There are similar issues with the WW II period when judging people afterwards. More than one perfect illustration of this phenomenon can be seen in the movie Never Look Away / Werk Ohne Autor (2018), written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. It makes us inspect our current opinions: who is with-us or against-us or something in between. Initially, the genre label "Action" on IMDB was too limited, but it is deservedly replaced later by "Action Drama History", as the movie has more to show than just heroic activism.

All in all, thought provoking elements embedded in the story make this movie more interesting than reading the synopsis did assume beforehand. Each coin has two sides. Who is "good" is only clear in hindsight, which is easy for us but not that easy at the time. On the other hand, a superficial viewer can easily be lured into the trap of heroism from the side of the activists, and dismiss the reactionary forces as bad or even criminal. Such rapid conclusions do not show this movie the respect it deserves.

As I'm writing this short review I see that it has more than 40k votes already, most of them giving 1 star for this master piece. And the movie hasn't even been released in Brazil!!

This just shows how good this movie is! Recent far-right political movements in Brazil can't tolerate the truth about their own history of oppression, torture and murder against those who fought against their coward coup on the 60's.

Marighella is a must see. And that for many reasons: it's a great movie per si! It's original, dense, poetic, emotional. It completely destroys the current fake narrative of a "revolution" by the army at that time, inviting people to call back all that political mess by its real name: a bloody dictatorship.

Director Moura, lets his political side speak higher then he should. Once you read Marighella story and his photos, and bio, you get a since that Moura tries to insert his political view, in what could have been a good movie. Disappointing.

Wonderful movie with real content. A must see if you're interested in history and good cinema, not only theme park brain-washing entertainment.

Reality escapes, sequential attempts to change the viewer's opinion in a basically unimaginative way.

Totally fleeing from reality, the biography is lacking, unreality from beginning to end.

I was left with the feeling of having been deceived... Or with the attempt to deceive me. I wanted to see a gangster movie showing the rottenness that is an environment experienced by the character. Not a lot of unreality.

I didn't like it.

Sorry, try again.

An incredible motion picture, based on the story, and political trajectory of the Brazilian national hero Marighella. Soundtrack and photography are incredible, an overall masterpiece by the director Wagner Moura. It's really ridiculous that some user reviews are dictatorship-worshiper-far-right motivated. The movie was censored in Brazil, making very unlikely that these users actually watched the movie. Don't believe the hype!

A good film about a great Brazilian and his struggle over a bad period in Brazilian history that we cannot forget.

I liked Vagner Moura's work as a director.

Well then... after watching the movie, I could only feel the regret of the hours spent in the endeavor.

The film boils down to just an ego trip of a weak production, showered with less than brilliant acting, a weak plot and messy editing.

It is just a highly pretentious film, which uses the political pamphlet robe to mask its truth as a film.

This is a great movie, an eye opening bio-pic detailing the story of this controversial figure in recent Brazilian history.

It's full of historían approved data, biographically irrefutable events, a story that makes sense from beginning to end and an amazing cast delivering great interpretations and emotions.

Now, how come the low score? Well, that's because of the political situation in Brazil, the divisiveness between left and right, with a far right ex-military president who actually defends the dictatorship against which Marighella fought and was a victim of. His supporters come here, without even having watched the movie, since way before the movie was officially released, and trash it in the reviews.

I'm giving it a 10/10 to help raise its score, but truthfully it might actually deserve something like an 8/10, because it does suffer from some overly emotional or dramatic parts that most Brazilian movies do.

Still, a great movie worthy watching.

Think about it: If it raised such an enormous response, that far right supporters had to come and trash it on the reviews, like little keyboard activists, there's something there...

I didn't know anything about the dark history of Brazil and the film does a good job on presenting a very complex character, and the people around him, on a bloody flight for resistance. In the intention to bring democracy back to the country!

The film cinematography is beautiful, and the sound is incredible. The film could do with some extra editing, as it's feels too long. They're very impressive dramatic scenes, but there's also some very unnecessary ones.

Overall it's a very well done film. A deep look at how violent and horrifying a dictatorship look like!

The movie is based on historical events, but the screenplay tuns out to be biased and distorted in favor of a specific political view. It was an wasted opportunity to tell a dense and interesting period of Brazilian history, if unbiased and properly made.

The movie is really good. Unfortunate, due to ignorant people that put idealism in front of reality, Science and world's history and, of course, Jair Bolsonaro's robots and fake profiles, it has a low rate. Do not believe in that. 90% of them didn't watch the movie. See for yourselves and make up your own minds.

Strange how the reviews here are all good, for a really bad movie.

The direction is mediocre, because all the scenes look artificial.

It doesn't seem to be a movie, but a documentary purchased during the campaign season.

It looks like a collection of commercials forcefully favorable to armed terrorists shooting without concerning for civilians and portrayed as heros. One of those movies where a political party pays or influences the reality spectrum.

It's a powerful and moving film. Heads up for Wagner Moura.

My guess is many among us reviewers on this title don't usually leave review, and are prompted to do so feeling this swarm of 1-point reviews so unjustified that we have to react. This film is not perfect, not immune to typical shortcomings seen in biopic. However, I admire and enjoy its passion and conviction, also agreeing its message especially just to counter hooligans like Bolsanaro, just to this minimal degree.

This is an important story in the history of Brazil, passionately told via expert filmmaking and excellent actors. It's brutal at times because we know that the horrible acts perpetrated in the film really happened, and that there are those who would silence the film even now makes it more important that it be seen. A remarkable film on all accounts.

It's not really a 10/10, but it's a gripping movie which tells an important story that is especially relevant in a world that is flirting more and more brazenly with fascism.

For those who think this movie serves as propaganda, that is simply not the case. The main characters aren't glorified or lionized, at least not to the standards of the genre. They're distinctively human and they commit some terrible actions. Their flaws and mistakes aren't hidden, but they are given a context that allows you to comprehend the situation.

The acting is stellar and it's very easy to forget that the main character is a well-known singer. In fact I found myself questioning several times whether it was really Seu Jorge, or if it was perhaps only his brother.

I did feel like some scenes didn't flow that well into each other and that is my main criticism. The two and a half hours flew by very quickly due to how intense it is and I honestly wouldn't mind an even longer version that flows a bit more naturally.

Had the pleasure of watching this movie during 2019's Sydney Film Festival, followed by a Q&A with director Wagner Moura.

Even though it's a long film (2h35), it keeps you on the edge of your set for the entire time. Extremely well written and a fenomenal effort from first time director Wagner Moura, "Marighella" manages to draw a bit of laughter despite dealing with heavy and dark subjects (the brazilian dictatorship years).

Seu Jorge, as per usual, gives the audience a fantastic performance, overshadowing weak and tacky acting from some of his peers, like Bruno Gagliasso.

Moura made the conscious decision of focusing the narrative on the characters personal nuances and lives, instead of delving into historical details about the dictatorship period. The director had the help of Marighella's relatives during the production.

"Marighella" also invites us to reflect about the use of violence during revolutions - is it or is it not necessary? Can we really be the judges of that?

The last scene of the movie gave me shivers. In Brazil's current grim political and social crisis, this movie is an absolute must watch for everyone who still denies the horrors of totalitarian regimes.

The film is really amazing in every aspect, direction, actors, photography, music,... It shows a true story of Brazil and make us think about what is happening now in bolivia and chile and about what some would like to happen again in brazil.

This movie is really good, I watched it at Sydney Film Festival and it had a full room, everyone applauded at the end. This movie tells about the true history of Brazil and it's really a punch to make us think and learn more.

It's not a bad piece at all.

But it's terribly far away from doing justice to the great figure Carlos Marighella was.

Despite being a great production, the public was expecting even more from Wagner Moura and the brilliant cast.

It would do a good pair of episodes in a Tv Series maybe? But for a movie it lacks complexity, political context, historic data important events, etc.. There's just no enough temporal information, making it less realistic.

Although it shows some potent heavy violent scenes , sometimes it even seems like a soap opera, lots of clichés and weak plot and script as well. Just too personal and not that much pedagogical in a critical sense.

In my opinion it's frustrating, because it was the chance to promote some educative content.

The movie shows a very important story about the fight against the Brazilian government in the 80s. It's really breathtaking and makes you want to research about Marighella even more after you leave the cinema!

Best brazilian movie of recent times.

Bruno Gagliasso also made a prime work as the bad guy.

This movie was needed in the Brazil that we are living.