Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) (2007)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Jason Kohn

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

When the rich steal from the poor... the poor steal the rich

Plot:

An examination of corruption and class warfare in Brazil as told through the stories of a wealthy businessman, a plastic surgeon who assists kidnapping victims and a politician whose income relies on a frog farm.

Awards:

4 wins

Also Known As:

Send a Bullet (International: English title)

Runtime:

USA:85 min (Sundance Film Festival)

Country:

Brazil | USA

Language:

English | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil

Company:

Kilo Films

Trivia:

The kidnapper interviewed in the movie died in late 2006. The filmmakers said he was shot twice -- in the shoulder and gut -- in a shootout with police in which he killed two cops, was taken to the hospital and came out of the ambulance with a new bullet hole in his head.

powerful movie but I have some complaints!

I felt there was way too much sound in the film, too much assiduous stuffing of Brazilian beats into every nook and cranny. Nice to hear some of that music but please. The mix was weird, the music too loud with the voices, and when the music was by itself it was cranked up ridiculously high.

Really disliked the practice of having the audience sit through the foreign language dialog then here a translator sitting there deliver a translation, usually off camera.

I couldn't' help thinking about how the figure of 2 billion stolen compares with the 3 trillion spent on Iraq, most of it going into private hands with more mercenaries on the ground in Iraq than US troops. In some respects things are so much worse here.