Reader comments
Four Days in September

We enjoyed the movie very much. These movies should be
publicized more, so that people can understand what's
happening in South America.

I've just seen the film for a class and, upon close
inspection, I found myself deeply impressed by this film.
I agree with the reviewer about the weakness of the
focusing on the secret police agent - it never amounts to
anything substantial in the film - but there are alot of
well-executed subtle ironies played out in the film. There
are also lots of ways to look at the film, from different
perspectives. Two questions I would pose to the filmmakers
are

1: Why does the only working class revolutionary
represented, with "farmer's hands" end up being a murderous
and vindictive brute?
2: I noticed that the black characters represented in the
film (all minor) all played sort of "flunkie" roles in the
power structure of the fascist dictatorship. The
impression from the film is that black Brazilians fall
outside the realm of political debate and consciousness.
The only evidence against this opinion is a reference to a
lyric from Gilberto Gil (a left-wing black Brazilian
musician) Am I wrong in making this criticism?

A final note: when seeing this film for the first time (I
won't give anything significant away in the plot), pay
attention to certain themes: "Vampires," issues surrounding
the concealing/eliminating of one's identity
(dehumanization), the significance of Palmeiras Football
Club. Also, there is a picture of the characters at the
end of the film. Look at what each character is doing with
his or her hands. To me this says alot about the problems
in left-wing political movements, which is of course a
central underlying theme in the film.