| Elite Squad: The Enemy Within | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | José Padilha |
| Produced by | Marcos Prado |
| Written by | José Padilha Bráulio Mantovani |
| Starring | Wagner Moura Irandhir Santos André Ramiro Milhem Cortaz André Mattos Maria Ribeiro |
| Music by | Pedro Bromfman |
| Cinematography | Lula Carvalho |
| Editing by | Daniel Rezende |
| Studio | Zazen Produções |
| Distributed by | Globo Filmes |
| Release date(s) | October 8, 2010 |
| Country | Brazil |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Budget | R$ 16 million[1] US$ 9.509.658,25 |
| Box office | R$ 104,071,662 (US$ 62,188,026)[2] |
Elite Squad 2 (Portuguese: Tropa de Elite 2 – O Inimigo Agora é Outro; Lit: Elite Troop 2: Now the Enemy Is Another One) is a 2010 Brazilian film directed and produced by José Padilha, starring Wagner Moura. It is a sequel of the 2007 film The Elite Squad. Elite Squad: The Enemy Within is a continuation of the semi-fictional account of the BOPE (Portuguese: Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais), the Special Police Operations Battalion of the Rio de Janeiro Military Police, with a focus on the relationship between law enforcement and politics. The film was released in Brazil on October 8, 2010.[3]
Having enjoyed public and critical acclaim, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within is the all-time largest box office ticket seller and highest-grossing film in Brazil, ahead of Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands and Avatar, respectively. The film has been selected as the Brazilian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards.[4][5]
Tropa de Elite 2 is scheduled to be released in the United States by Variance Films on November 11, under the title The Elite Squad: The Enemy Within.
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The Elite Squad: The Enemy Within plot, set thirteen years after the events of the first film resolves around the maturing of former Captain and now Lt. Col. Roberto Nascimento, who, after a disastrous BOPE operation on a prison riot, gets caught in a bloody political dispute that involves not only the Public Safety Department, the State governor and State Military Police, but also paramilitary groups known as milícias. The film also shows the family issues of Nascimento, with his now adolescent son gradually moving away from him due to his job and the influence of his stepfather, Diogo Fraga.
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within focuses more on Nascimento's family relations than Elite Squad. In Wagner Moura's words: "Nascimento matures in this film, which has to do with his concept of conscience and his age."[3]
The first member to be acknowledged was Wagner Moura, who returns with his character Roberto Nascimento, now promoted from Captain to Lieutenant Colonel. In Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, Nascimento is 40 years old and has gray hair. André Ramiro is also back as Captain André Matias (promoted from Officer Cadet); the actor was prepped by professionals from the CATI-SWAT to give orders to the cops on-screen. Musician and actor Seu Jorge (who played Mané Galinha in Cidade de Deus) was invited by director José Padilha to act as one of the antagonists, Beirada; Maria Ribeiro is also back as Roseane, who is no longer married to Nascimento, but to a left wing Congressman. Tainá Müller, who was not in the first film, plays Clara, representing the media. Sandro Rocha, who had little on-screen time during the first film, has a bigger role now, playing Major Rocha, known as Russo (Russian), boss of the militia.
Between November and December 2009, before recording for the film started, all the actors - except Maria Ribeiro, pregnant at the time - had a training routine, led by Fátima Toledo. Part of the cast also went through a boot camp in Rio, coordinated by Paulo Storani, security adviser, and with the participation of members from BOPE and CATI. André Ramiro said, "They treated us like real cops. No 'I'm-too-important'. I also had to say 'No, sir. Yes, sir'". Wagner Moura had Jiu-Jitsu lessons from fighter Rickson Gracie. The training helped bring a degree of reality to the film; actors had to learn the proper techniques to handle weapons and also action strategies in risk-zones, besides a strong fitness program, laid heavy on those who weren't in the first movie.
Recording started on January 25 of 2010, with the participation of eighty real cops as extras. On February 1, recording took place at Morro Dona Marta, in the Botafogo borough, with the use of two helicopters and heavy guns, leading to next-door neighbors thinking it was a real shoot-out. For the scenes happening at the Bangu 1 prison, forty professionals worked during two months constructing a 500m² detention center, based on notations from art director Tiago Marques about the place, since they didn't get clearance to take pictures of the real building. The scenes at the prison were recorded during the four days of the 2010 carnival. One of the film scenes would be shot at the House of Congress in Brasília, but production couldn't get permission. A fake Ethics Committee was built inside the Federation of Industries of Rio de Janeiro, recording took place at April 15. Filming was done in the same month and the film went to post-production.
After the first film leaked and got in the hands of millions of people before the official release date, the Elite Squad 2 crew created a strategy to avoid the same thing happening to the sequel. Before production began, Marcos Prado informed that, "This time we will have a special security scheme. We will have a security team watching over the editing, transporting the reels, and paying close attention to every little detail. The raw material will be preserved". Director José Padilha concluded, "We won't outsource any of the steps. We are doing the whole post-production at our company, inside our 'caveirão'". The script was sent to the National Agency of Cinema under the title "Organized crime" and was printed with red ink, to avoid photocopying. The production unit rented an apartment, monitored by cameras, where editing took place. Four people had access to the place, only through passwords, and no means of accessing the Internet. Another strategy used was the marking of each copy sent to the theaters; that way if any of the copies was illegally recorded, they would know where it came from. Military policemen from São Paulo also helped in avoiding the leak. The final picture, still with no sound, was put in a safe.
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within had mostly positive reviews so far. In a review for G1, Luciano Trigo affirmed that the film is a "blow to the spectator" and that it has "a script far more ambitious than the first one". According to Trigo, director José Padilha was able to avoid "traps" in the sequel, such as "repeating the how-to from the first film, or giving in to pressure from those who called the first film 'fascist'" and went "even deeper on the realism and toughness of the social scenario in Rio de Janeiro, stained by violence and corruption in all its forms". On UOL, Alessandro Giannini praised Wagner Moura's portrayal of Nascimento and affirmed that the film is more "consistent and cohesive" than the first one and that "there is no room for doubts or ambiguities". Carla Navarrete wrote on Yahoo! that "the plot is much more complex, as Padilha's direction is more firm. Wagner Moura is as sharp as ever with his character. Aged, his Nascimento brings a chilling dramatic background". Marcelo Forlani from the website Omelete, ranked the film four out of five, citing that "'Squad 2', like the first, is still violent, still polemic, still punching at the same button" and that "the comic relief moments work so well because the rest of the movie is packed with action and tension". On MSN, Karen Lemos wrote that the flim "re-writes the concepts brought about by the first movie: instead of crooks, the police; and instead of the law, corruption". Journalist André Forastieri, writing on his blog for the R7 news portal, said he was disappointed with the final result: "Of course a movie is not an academic thesis (...). The actors are good. Wagner Moura shines. The dialogues sparkle. But the most powerful moments are softened by the never-ending argument, producing the overall feeling of impotence. Like almost all sequels, this one can't help but diminish the first movie's value".
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within broke national opening weekend records in Brazil, with more than 1.25 million spectators during its first weekend.[6] This opening was the 5th biggest in Brazilian history and the biggest one for a Brazilian film, so far. A total of 696 theaters are screening the film about 8 times each day. In three weeks, the film surpassed the mark of R$ 60 million in gross revenue and over six million viewers becoming the most successful Brazilian film of the 21st century so far on local theaters. In just nine weeks, the film surpassed 10 million viewers on theaters throughout the country becoming the highest box office of a local film in Brazilian history.
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within was released in the UK by Revolver Entertainment [7] in Summer 2011.[8]
The film held its United States premiere in January 2011 at the Sundance Film Festival. Since, it has screened at several festivals, including Austin's Fantastic Fest. The film will be released in New York City on November 11, 2011 and in Los Angeles on November 18, 2011.
The US Facebook page lists the release as fall/winter 2011
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