Runtime: 85 mins
Synopsis: In Brazil, known as one of the world's most corrupt and violent countries, MANDA BALA follows a politician who uses a frog farm to steal billions of dollars, a wealthy businessman who spends a small fortune bulletproofing his cars, and a plastic surgeon who reconstructs the ears of mutilated... [More]
Genre: Education/General Interest
To address the economic inequality of teeming Sao Paulo, Brazil, documentary maker Jason Kohn has joined several loosely related topics into a sort of rhetorical doughnut, leaving a hole in the center where his thesis should be.
Kohn takes [risks] in this convoluted but fascinating documentary -- and most of those choices pay off.
Kohn is a talented filmmaker and he's tackled a subject not seen before in documentary film, but you almost feel bludgeoned by the depressing state of Brazil instead of introduced to the problems there.
Fascinating, and presented with such panache that you can't help but get drawn in.
Kohn does a good job of bringing grim issues to light in a surprisingly entertaining manner. But maybe with a few more years of experience, he could make those issues resonate more fully.
Kohn, who shot Manda Bala in lush widescreen format and makes deft use of Brazilian pop music to give the film a cleverly incongruous soundtrack, is intent on making a picture that is as visceral to watch as it is to contemplate.
Kohn has produced an astonishingly honest and frankly shocking documentary.
Artful framing and 23 peppy songs on the soundtrack lend a gloss to subject matter that alternately repels and fascinates...
Top Critic
We see where this is going early on; by the end, despite the film's beautiful cinematography, persuasive subjects and ironically upbeat soundtrack, we just feel bludgeoned.
Manda Bala (Send a Bullet), a documentary about corruption, crime and human adaptation during difficult circumstances, is a slick, sly and beautifully shot documentary.
With a keen eye for wide-screen imagery, Kohn captures the personalities of his interview subjects.
The movie has a great flashiness -- copter shots that swoop over Sao Paulo; swift, playful editing; and pop-operatic sequences driven by catchy songs.
It's thrilling viewing throughout, but Kohn's talents don't yet match his ambitions.
In the end, Kohn's one-note approach diminishes, rather than intensifies, the impact of Manda Bala.
The 'characters' in Manda Bala are lucid and deliberate as they tell their stories and relate their points-of-view, but it is the construction of the film that sets it apart and multiplies its impact.
A predictable expose' of a foreign country with a dictatorship that encourages the most violent of crimes. But how far away is America?
This is a mesmerizing, tense, exciting documentary that makes one appreciate life in America.
Top Critic
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