This documentary is a well-crafted, impressive film by Maria Ramos, a Brazilian film maker who has been living and working in The Netherlands for fourteen years. Rightfully, this film was awarded as "Best Film" at the Nyons Documentary Festival (France).
In Justica, Ramos explores the Brazilian judicial system, which is in fact only a perspective from which we look at the inequalities in Brazil. Ramos convincingly shows us how the justice department tries to deal with the enormous number of petty criminals. Most of these criminals are very poor people who live in slums and have practically no chance of changing their lives. At the same time, the repressive justice department does not seem to help much to solve this problem. On the contrary, people guilty of small crimes are locked away in crammed prisons for years. We get to see different people with very different roles in the story: prejudiced, repressive judges, a more progressive judge, the underprivileged poor people guilty of mainly small crimes, the attorney who tries to help them, but also the families of the different people.
The story Ramos wants to tell is quite straightforward. However, the way she tells it is not. There are no interviews and there is no narration in this film. Instead, most shots are plain registrations of what goes on in the courtroom, in prison, or at characters' homes later in the film. The absence of interviews or narration, the slow pace, the use of very static shots and the blueish colours in the courthouse all help to create a very distant atmosphere. Nevertheless it is exactly this detached approach that make the film so gripping. In essence this film deals with personal stories, but the political message is clear: the non-judgmental and personal approach make this political message even more powerful. The whole film left me with a choking feeling, not only because of the poignant story, but also as a result of the claustrophobic shots (nearly all scenes are filmed inside the courthouse, the prison, in the car or in the characters' homes).
Moving story & great film style. 8/10
In Justica, Ramos explores the Brazilian judicial system, which is in fact only a perspective from which we look at the inequalities in Brazil. Ramos convincingly shows us how the justice department tries to deal with the enormous number of petty criminals. Most of these criminals are very poor people who live in slums and have practically no chance of changing their lives. At the same time, the repressive justice department does not seem to help much to solve this problem. On the contrary, people guilty of small crimes are locked away in crammed prisons for years. We get to see different people with very different roles in the story: prejudiced, repressive judges, a more progressive judge, the underprivileged poor people guilty of mainly small crimes, the attorney who tries to help them, but also the families of the different people.
The story Ramos wants to tell is quite straightforward. However, the way she tells it is not. There are no interviews and there is no narration in this film. Instead, most shots are plain registrations of what goes on in the courtroom, in prison, or at characters' homes later in the film. The absence of interviews or narration, the slow pace, the use of very static shots and the blueish colours in the courthouse all help to create a very distant atmosphere. Nevertheless it is exactly this detached approach that make the film so gripping. In essence this film deals with personal stories, but the political message is clear: the non-judgmental and personal approach make this political message even more powerful. The whole film left me with a choking feeling, not only because of the poignant story, but also as a result of the claustrophobic shots (nearly all scenes are filmed inside the courthouse, the prison, in the car or in the characters' homes).
Moving story & great film style. 8/10
