Every once in a while, we hear of a really good movie out of Latin America, and for some reason most of those come from Brazil. Movies like “Black Orpheus” the mythological samba-bustin modern love tragedy; “Central Do Brazil” the heartfelt story of a boy who is seeking his long-lost mother through the help of a ‘correspondence-reader’; “City of God” which takes a peek into the favelas, or slums of Brazil and the misery in the life of those that inhabit them. And now, “Tropa de Elite”, or “Elite Troop” a docu-drama about the police-drug wars in the favelas of Rio. The film is already out in theaters nationwide in Brazil and will be coming to the States soon —probably to a little artsy theater near you. A pirated version of the movie has been leaked and apparently has been seen by over 11.5 million people, causing quite a buzz around the movie’s official release.

The film has received a lot of attention for exposing the brutal tactics that the State Police Special Operations Battalion (BOPE) uses to hash out drug criminals —apparently they come in, guns a blazin’, without any form of warning —and many innocent civilians get caught in the middle of the violence.

The Rio police have tried to keep the movie from hitting the theaters but they have failed. And a colonel of internal affairs has tried to bring the movie’s director, José Padilha, in for questioning, which has only made the film even more popular.

Special police units have been operating in Latin America for a long time now, (in Mexico they are called “Death Squads”), but this is the first time we’ve heard that a movie has been done about it.

And, apparently the film implies that the middle and upper classes of Brazil are to blame for creating the demands for the drug market that lead to all the violence. Poor Brazilian rich kids, not only do you have to endure blogs patronizing you for being your fabulous selves, now you have to put up with indirect accusations for your country’s violence. We feel so bad for you. Sniff, sniff. Or, is it snort, snort?

A Violent Police Unit, on Film and in Rio’s Streets [NYT]