In Hollywood, fewer people have made careers as broad as Alan Arkinwho passed away on June 29 at the age of 89. Although he will always be remembered for his Oscar-winning performance in Little Miss Happy, one of his finest performances, in another Oscar-nominated but much less well-known film. We’re talking brazilian classics Four days in September, nominated for an Oscar in 1998 in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Arkin plays in it Charles Burke Elbrickthe US ambassador to Brazil, kidnapped by an armed guerrilla group in 1969, five years after the military coup, the country enters a period of military dictatorship.

What is the movie Four Days in September about?

A scene from the Brazilian film Four Days in September.
Image via Miramax

The film is part of the so-called “Cinema da Retomada”, a movement that sought to restart Brazilian film production on a large scale after decades of military dictatorship censorship between 1964 and 1985 and a recession that ravaged the country’s economy until the early 1990s. Four days in September however, is of particular importance in this movement as it has proven the quality of Brazilian cinema and how national artists can work as equals with foreign stars, especially Hollywood icons like Arkin, and release high-quality award-winning films for just the same amount.

Brazil’s military dictatorship lasted 21 years, but its effects are still being felt today. There are countless films about this infamous period, but few of them show how badly the resistance was organized during the period when Four days in September. The story is based on What is it, comrade?first hand story Fernando Gabeira (plays in the film Pedro Cardoso), a left-wing militant who joined the revolutionary partisan detachment MP-8. They started with petty bank robberies, the kidnapping of Ambassador Elbrick being their only major act. The intention was to trade Elbrick for the freedom of 15 political prisoners.

The group itself consisted mostly of students, a few radicalized adults, and an elderly mentor. They all had a rather romantic and naive idea of ​​what could be achieved by bearing arms against the military, and despite their bravado, none of them were truly prepared to deal with the consequences of their actions. The film takes a lot of creative liberties compared to Gabeira’s memoir, setting up subplots, romantic interests, and even rivalries between some of the characters for dramatic effect, but it doesn’t shy away from depicting some of the most violent things about life. military dictatorship, such as some officers’ mindless bloodlust and their torture mechanisms, including the infamous pau de a rara.

Elbrick was held captive in a house on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, a location quickly found by military government agents due to the suspicious behavior of MR-8 members in the neighborhood. Their demands were granted and the ambassador was released, but they were all eventually found and tortured by the military dictatorship. Gabeira became a journalist and politician in Brazil after the restoration of democracy in 1989 and often cites his four days in September 1969 as a turning point in his life.

The image of Arkin underlies the “Four Days in September”

Alan Arkin in a scene from Four Days in September.
Image via Miramax

Cast Four days in September simply stellar by Brazilian standards and few other films in Brazilian cinema have ever matched pure star power here. He mixed household names such as Fernanda Montenegro And Othon Bastossoap opera stars Claudia Abreu And Fernanda Torresand rising movie stars like the dynamic duo Selton Mello And Matheus Nachtergaele. They all get their attention, but the film’s true dramatic core lies in Pedro Cardoso’s portrayal of Gabeira and Alan Arkin’s Charles Elbrick.

Gabeira, the only member of MR-8 who could speak English beyond formal greetings, was assigned to keep an eye on Elbrick most of the time. The group questioned the ambassador about how many CIA agents were in Brazil and things like that, which he denied each time. Gabeira also read to him about the Black Panther movement and gave him books about left-wing leaders such as Ho Chi Minh, which Elbrick listened to and read, but argued with Gabeira when they were alone. He quickly picked up on the young man’s romantic ideals regarding what he was talking about and confronted his views whenever he felt it was safe to do so.

Arkin confidently portrays Elbrick as a prisoner, never leaving his role as a diplomat, even when asked about his personal views on sensitive topics such as the Vietnam War, US intervention in Latin America, and military dictatorship in Brazil. His position always surprised Gabeira, and it established a mutual respect between the two: Gabeira realized how naive the whole operation was, and Elbrick understood the young man’s idealistic outlook and how they both ended up in a very delicate position. Arkin’s portrayal perfectly combines confidence, charm and even fragility, setting the tone for Cardoso’s own performance as an insecure youth who didn’t really know what he was doing. In the end, Elbrick takes an almost paternal approach to Gabeira, as Arkin creates that dominant presence whenever he appears on screen without making it obvious—and without detracting from Cardoso’s own performance.

Four days in September certainly one of Arkin’s lesser-known works, especially outside of Brazil, but it gives him the opportunity to do something outside of Hollywood, exploring points of view and characters he wouldn’t normally do otherwise. He was known for his versatility, and this is one of his most dramatic roles, though not necessarily very difficult. For the Brazilian industry, the participation of an actor of his stature in one of our best performances is priceless, not only in terms of fame, but also in terms of the experience he shared with younger actors, since most of them went on to become soap operas and films. the stars themselves.