When the news was announced that director Jose Padilha was to return a RoboCop reboot, fans were puzzled, yet he already has created a cult classic of his own.
Considering that one of the themes of RoboCop is extreme law enforcement for extreme situations, Padilha has proven his expertise with the real-life portrayal of BOPE in the 2007 Brazilian film Elite Squad.
If you’ve never heard of them, BOPE are the Special Police Operations Battalion of the Rio de Janeiro Military Police. Experts in urban warfare, they utilise equipment deemed too powerful for regular police, including an armoured fighting vehicle which they barrel into favelas to rout drug dealers.
Make no mistakes, they are ruthlessly efficient and not particularly friendly – hence their logo, which depicts a human skull with a knife sticking through it. Come on guys, he’s already dead!
Considering that BOPE are thought to be controversial figures due to their excessive use of force and reportedly indiscriminate targeting of civilians in drug cartel-controlled areas, questions still arise as to whether Elite Squad denigrates or glorifies their work, though the film was a huge hit in its native Brazil for audiences who saw the force as heroes and wanted to see payback on-screen.
The film itself centres on Captain Nascimento, a BOPE veteran who realises that with his first child on the way, he can longer put his life on the line in slum warfare every day. To that end he seeks to recruit one of two police officers, either studious Andre Matias (Andre Ramiro) or the gifted yet votalile Neto Gouveia (Caio Junqueira) to be his successor.
Aside from detailing the incredibly demanding recruitment process to BOPE, the film stuns with gritty shoot-outs and morally dubious police questioning of drug dealer spotters. Let’s just say that getting “bagged” is not an experience we’d expect from the Garda Siochana…
There is plenty to savour while watching Elite Squad and plenty to consider afterwards. Whether you get swept up in the macho outlook of BOPE is your prerogative, yet at times it’s hard not to find their illegal solutions to illegal problems satisfying at points, especially after hearing the university-set anti-police views of pampered upper class students amid an undercover Matias.
Yet are BOPE fascist in their approach? It’s difficult to argue after watching this film yet similarly it’s difficult not to respect or admire the resolve of protagonist Captain Nascimento.
Perhaps keen to avoid such morally murky territory, the film’s 2010 sequel – which is a must-see also – focuses on the theme of its subtitle “The Enemy Within“. Here we see that BOPE has more than a few skeletons in its closet, with shocking manipulation of crime stats and double-crossing at every turn for Nascimento.
The sequel is a thought-provoking and counterpoint to the raw, visceral thrill that is someone’s first watch of Elite Squad, yet the added subtext does tend to diminish the impact of its predecessor.
Yet viewed on its own terms, Elite Squad is a cold, ruthless watch and one that lets us know that Padilha has plenty to offer for the revival of Detroit’s finest enforcer.
For more cult films, check out the Jameson Cult Film Club.
