Word: film
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Producer Paula Barreto acknowledges the film rounds out some of Lula's rough edges but says such is the concessionary nature of making biopics. "It's a film, and cinema is about choices. You have to leave things out," Barreto tells TIME. "What was important was that I wanted to portray that conciliatory side of him - the man who brought people together, who always wanted to talk and negotiate and was never radical...
...problem is that portraying Lula as a saint stretches credulity. Brazilians know and admire the man who dragged himself up from poverty to become President of the world's fifth most populous nation. But while the film ends in 1980, the years since have produced a different Lula, the intemperate leader who swears in public and rails at the press for investigating graft, and whose government was tainted by one of the most egregious corruption schemes in Brazilian history...
...poor - the main source of Lula's support - usually don't go to the movies in Brazil (more than 90% of the country's municipalities do not even have a cinema), Barreto says the movie company is offering cheap tickets to union members and plans to show the film on mobile screens in rural areas. They are also prescreening the film for some of Lula's critics in the hope they will give it two thumbs up, thereby potentially attracting more middle-class viewers. But just who will pay to see it remains a concern. "The biggest problem will...
...timing of the movie's release, at the start of an election year, is also controversial. The opposition, still looking bland and disorganized, is worried it could be one more glamorous nail in its coffin. Lula is determined to have his handpicked successor, Dilma Rousseff, elected, and a feature film starring him as a sainted everyman can only add to his appeal and help Lula bring her vital votes in the October election...
...opposition is also concerned that the film could help prolong Lula's political life after he leaves the presidency. The 64-year-old is constitutionally prohibited from seeking a third consecutive term but has hinted he is not ready to retire definitively from politics. "Lula is very popular, and his political life is not over," says João Augusto de Castro Neves, a political analyst in the capital, Brasília. "He could still be President in 2014 or have another political position. I think the intention with the film is almost to provoke the opposition. Lula...