Alemão: Both Sides of the Operation

It is easy to miss some good Brazilian films like this one. Although not perfect, Alemão (2014) clearly shows the Brazilian film industry evolved to deliver some good content.

I find it weird this film mentions the events of 2007 as the precursor of the pacifying police units (UPP). As far as I'm aware, a major operation in 2010 was the precursor of UPPs. But, well...

In this film, the Rio police are set to enter the Complexo do Alemão favela. This event sets the drug gang that controls the area in motion to defend themselves. Meanwhile, 5 policemen deeply undercover in the favela need to hide from the drug gang because their disguise dropped.

Even though this film is not Brazilian's cinematography at its prime (see Tropa de Elite (2007) and O Auto da Compadecida (2000), for example), this film is well above the Brazilian average. It goes light with nudity, which is a common theme in Brazilian films, and the language is natural and strong, as expected.

The drama is good, enjoyable, and believable. The acting is great at showing the despair and worries everyone has to deal with.

Cauã Reymond is questionable, though. He is great in this film, but I guess he is just a huge name to bias people to see this film other than having a relevant role. He is the favela's drug gang leader, but he mostly does nothing.

The plot is OK, and you get hooked up to see what will happen with our main characters, but the film's length made me feel like this film drags. This feeling happens especially because most of the time nothing is really is happening other than some people hunting the policemen and the policemen hiding. After one and a half-hour, I was skipping some slow scenes to get to the ending.

I'd recommend this to anyone. Maybe it could be better with less screen time, or with more violence, or maybe with more action. I don't know. But this film is definitely enjoyable.