To be read as a continuation of Part 7; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2025/04/lets-all-go-to-movies-pt7.html
I'm Still Here (2024): Within the discussions surrounding The Oscars 2025 this is, primarily, another movie about the challenges women face in the Entertainment Industry as they age. The title being a response to the way that women used to disappear from the Entertainment Industry the moment they hit 50.
It tells the story of Eunice Paiva at three stages in her life; Aged around 40 in 1970, aged around 67 in 1996 and aged around 85 in 2014. In 1970 the 40 year old Eunice Paiva is played by Fernanda Torres, an actress nearly 20 years older than the character at the time. The 59 year old Fernanda Torres also plays Eunice Paiva in 1996 when the actress is nearly 20 years younger than the character. Aged 86 Eunice Paiva is played by Fernanda Montenegro who was born in the same year as the character but a decade later is playing a character 10 years younger than her. Fernanda Montenegro is Fernanda Torres' Mother. Unlike in The Brutalist (2024) I'm Still Here drew the line at having an actress playing a role old enough to be her own Mother. Instead using her actual Mother.
The movie looks at Eunice Paiva's life at key points following the disappearance of her husband, Rubens Paiva at the hands of the Military Dictatorship which ruled Brazil during the time of The Fifth Brazilian Republic (1964-1985). I've found that in order to understand the Military Dictatorship of The Fifth Brazilian Republic you have to understand Brazil's political history from the time that it was a Portuguese Colony.
Brazil has always had a very rich and diverse population of Aboriginal or Indigenous tribes whose roots have been traced back over 11,000 years. Within Brazil's interior there are still hidden tribes who are only now making contact with the outside world for the first time. However the first Portuguese to discover Brazil was Pedro Álvares Cabral in April 1500. It was the Portuguese who gave Brazil its modern name after finding to be abundant with a species of tree that could be used to make a reddish dye; "Pau-brasilia (Brazilwood)." From the Latin; "Pau" meaning; "Wood" and; "Brasil" meaning "Ember-like glow." A detail that is probably worth remembering at an Awards Season overshadowed by the Wildfires which devastated parts of Los Angeles, such as the Pacific Palisades, neighbourhood at the start of January 2025.
Initially The Portuguese Empire (1415-1999) had little interest in Colonising Brazil. While it had an abundance of interesting trees you could make dye from The Portuguese Empire saw Brazil's main importance as nothing more than a trade route from Asia. However they realised that they needed to establish some sort of presence there in order to keep the trade route open.
The Portuguese Empire set about establishing this presence by turning to what using modern terminology would be considered the Private Sector. In 1534 it established 15 land parcels, The Captaincies of Brazil, essentially by drawing horizontal lines across Brazil. Private individuals were then able to bid for these land parcels. The winning bidders became the; "Donatário" (Endowed One) or; "Captain" of that parcel of land and were allowed to run it, more or less, as they wished. It was actually The Portuguese Empire which pioneered the use of Slave Labour on Sugar Plantations. Its influence in the Americas diminished as other European Colonial Powers, particularly Britain and The Netherlands, started bringing large numbers of African Slaves to Sugar Plantations in the Caribbean via The Atlantic Slave Trade, rather than using Slaves captured locally.
So you could certainly describe The Captaincies of Brazil as extreme, idealised versions of; "Totalitarian Capitalism" even if they were established slightly before Capitalism as we know it came into being. They could also be likened to the Feudal System in place in Europe in The Middle Ages (5th Century A.D to 15th Century A.D) where the land was owned by the Nobility and the Peasants worked it for the benefit of the landowners. Although the European Feudal system the land was owned by the Monarch and control of it was divided up between their relatives while The Captaincies of Brazil were donated to private bidders, supposedly on the basis of merit.
Alongside The Oscars the other big event of America's Awards Season is The Super Bowl and its Half-Time Show. This year the Half-Time Show was performed by Kendrick Lamar and SZA. It took a detailed look at the Urban Geography of Los Angeles. How when the US took control of Los Angeles from Mexico at the end of The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) it did so as much with Engineers, Map-Makers and Urban Planners than it did with Infantry and Cavalry. It mapped the area for the first time, dividing it up into land parcels. Many of these land parcels were given away by California Governor and later Senator Leland Stanford. Either to himself or his friends Collis Potter Huntington, Mark Hopkins Jr and Charles Crocker. This was a common practice across America at the time with California's; "Big Four" being just some of the; "Robber Barons" who dominated during America's; "Gilded Age." The era of America's Robber Barons came to an end with The Teapot Dome Scandal (1923-1929). The way that The Captaincies of Brazil were established and run is very similar to the way the Robber Barons of America's Gilded Age operated.
For a variety of reasons the Captaincies of Brazil were not particularly successful. In 1548 the Captaincy of Bahia (Baía de Todos os Santos) was overrun by an indigenous tribe of cannibals who ate the Captain, Francisco Pereira Coutinho, and his settlers. This forced the Portuguese Empire to deploy its troops to Bahia, placing it under the control of a Royal Governor. Bringing the Captaincy of Bahia into what we would now consider the Public Sector and turning it into an example of State-run Totalitarian Capitalism. Eventually this model was extended to all of the Captaincies of Brazil turning them into what would now be considered Federal States. However the culture continued with each State being considered the private fiefdom of its Strongman Captain or; “Gaucho.” Even the Portuguese term; Donatário or; “Endowed One” is dripping with the Machismo toxic masculinity that women still face in the Entertainment Industry.
Brazil’s journey from European Colony to independent nation was also an unusual one. I think that we all know by now that the European Settlers in North America fought a war against their Colonial masters to become an independent nation; The American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). European Settlers in Mexico also fought a war against their Colonial masters to become and independent nation; The Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821). While the majority of European Colonies were granted independence after their Colonial masters had bankrupted themselves during The First World War (1914-1918) and the Second World War (1939-1945) and were no longer able to afford Colonies.
In 1808 the Napoleonic Empire of France invaded Portugal, The Peninsular War (1808-1814). This saw the Portuguese King and Royal Court travel to Brazil and establish Brazil as part of the Kingdom of Portugal, rather than a mere Colony of The Portuguese Empire. By all accounts the King, John VI, would have been happy to remain in Brazil and rule his entire kingdom from there for the rest of his life. However by 1821, 12 years after the end of the Peninsula War, the people of Portugal were restless at their King’s absence and demanded his return. King John VI left his son, Pedro, as Prince Regent of Brazil.
The following year Pedro announced Brazil’s succession from the Kingdom of Portugal. Establishing himself as Emperor Pedro I and Brazil as a Constitutional Monarchy. A system of government similar to modern day Britain’s. Where there is a Monarch as Head of State but the running of the country is left to the government. In 1826 King John VI died and Emperor Pedro I’s brother, Miguel I, claimed the Portuguese throne. Intent on maintaining Portugal as an Absolute Monarchy, where the Monarch runs absolutely everything. In 1831 Emperor Pedro I abdicated the Brazilian throne in order to return to Portugal and support his daughter, Maria II, to take back the Portuguese throne and establish Portugal as a Constitutional Monarchy.
Emperor Pedro I abdicated in favour of his son, Emperor Pedro II, who was only 5 years old at the time. When Emperor Pedro II came of age in 1840, at 14 years old, he set about turning Brazil into a Parliamentary Monarchy. In which he was Head of State but the running of the country was left to a government made up of a Parliament, as opposed to a confederacy of Captains or Donatário.
In 1850 Emperor Pedro II’s only son died leaving only his daughters as potential heirs. There was a widespread feeling throughout the country that Brazil’s very macho, misogynistic gaucho cultural would not tolerate a female Monarch. Rather like how some would say that the American Entertainment Industry still won’t tolerate women in positions of power. Like his father Emperor Pedro II never seemed that keen on being Monarch or the idea of a Monarchy, working throughout their lives to reduce the power of the Monarchy. With the death of his son Emperor Pedro II seemed to give up on the idea of Brazil continuing as any form of Monarchy. The next 40 years were really spent waiting for the current Monarch to die so Brazil could become a Republic. Including by the Monarch himself.
It was really The Portuguese Empire which pioneered the business model of using Slave Labour on Sugar Plantations which came to dominate the Americas during the European Colonial Era. Part of the price that Emperor Pedro I had to pay for British support for Brazil’s succession from the Kingdom of Portugal, alongside trade concession, was an end to its participation in the Atlantic Slave Trade in 1825. In 1888 Emperor Pedro II went one step further, ending slavery in Brazil entirely. That outraged the Captains or Donatário who were not compensated for what they saw as their property being seized by the Monarch. That added to the outrage that they felt over Emperor Pedro II reducing their power by introducing a Parliamentary system of government. Conversely reformists were outraged that Emperor Pedro II had taken too long to abolish slavery and wasn’t going far enough in reducing the power of the Captains or Donatário.
By 1889 almost all sections of Brazilian society had got fed up with waiting for Emperor Pedro II to die, so Brazil could become a Republic. On November 15th a group of Brazilian military officers led by Deodoro da Fonseca took matters into their own hands. Staging a Coup d'état; The Coup of 1889 or The Coup of the Republic. Enjoying widespread support, even from the Emperor himself The Coup of 1889 was short and bloodless. Deodoro da Fonseca paraded troops through the then capital Rio de Janeiro, deposed the Monarch and its government and proclaimed Brazil to be a Republic. Emperor Pedro II died two years later in exile in France.
The Coup of 1889 established The First Brazilian Republic (1889-1930). It also established the Brazilian Military, particularly the Army, not as servants of the government and people of Brazil but as an integral part of the government of Brazil. What people familiar with nations such as modern Egypt would recognise as a; “Deep State.”
At around 15:30 on 18/7/25 (UK date) there's still a long list of facts and dates to come.
