Four Days in September [DVD]

• Type: DVD
• Studio: Alliance Films
• Language(s): french, portuguese
• Subtitle(s): english
• Director(s): Bruno Barreto
• Rating: PG
• Format Size: Widescreen
• Runtime: 106 Mins.
• Region code: Region 1
• Genre: Action
• Subgenre: Drama
• Release Year: 1998.
• Actor(s): Alan Arkin, Pedro Cardoso, Fernanda Torres, Luiz Fernando Guimarães, Cláudia Abreu, Nelson Dantas, Matheus Nachtergaele, Marco Ricca, Maurício Gonçalves, Caio Junqueira

FOUR DAYS IN SEPTEMBER chronicles the true story of some Brazilian students who rise up in 1969 against the Brazilian military dictatorship. They kidnap the American ambassador to Brazil, Charles Burke Elbrick. Calling themselves the October Eighth Revolutionary Movement, they lack direction but are fraught with fervor. As the students interact with Elbrick, they discover he is compassionate and articulate. This provokes moral confusion in Paulo, a non-violent yet passionate writer. Maria, the group’s original leader, concedes leadership to fellow revolutionaries from the National Liberation Group. She eventually sheds her hardened exterior to reveal a frightened girl who dreads death.

This movie diverges from the typical liberal dogma by exploring the many human sides of a difficult political situation. The screenplay highlights the American ambassador’s humanity and dignity and briefly explores the dilemma of the secret servicemen who hunt down the MR-8. In the end, the students emerge as naïve and foolish, while the ambassador becomes the true hero in his quiet nobility and valor. FOUR DAYS IN SEPTEMBER is admirable and brilliant. Containing a moral worldview with strong socialist elements, the movie includes some violence, torture and a few foul words.