Fanatical Flamengo fan, director of 'Elite Squad' hopes to release a documentary about the fans
Thiago Dias
From GLOBOESPORTE.COM
Fanatical Flamengo fan, José Padilha doesn't put criminals in a Flamengo shirt
Exit Captain Nascimento, enter the Flamengo nation. José Padilha, director of the hit "Elite Squad," is still enjoying the success of his film about the war between police and criminals in Rio de Janeiro, but he's already dreaming of a new script: a documentary about Flamengo fans.
Grandson of former president José Bastos Padilha, after whom the Gávea stadium is named, the filmmaker is a die-hard Flamengo fan and says he never misses a single match, whether going to the Maracanã or watching on television. Now, he wants to bring his passion for the club to the big screen.
"The other day I was in Gávea and talked with Márcio Braga (president) about the idea of making a film. We spoke briefly, but I'm taking it seriously. It would be a documentary about Flamengo fans, because the fans are Flamengo. The team changes, the players leave, but the fans stay," Padilha told GLOBOESPORTE.COM by phone.
The idea is good, but it will take some time to get off the ground. The director, who made the acclaimed documentary "Bus 174," is still busy promoting "Elite Squad," which will compete for the Golden Bear at the 58th Berlin Film Festival in Germany in February.
"It's a wish, nothing's planned yet. I'm on vacation now. Like the Flamengo players, on break," he jokes.
No red-black banditry
It's common to see red and black shirts among criminals portrayed in Brazilian films and series. In "City of Men," for example, a drug dealer always wears the club's uniform. This would never happen in a work by Padilha, he assures:
- I can't associate Flamengo with bad things. Never. I wasn't the one who designed the costumes for "Tropa," but the costume designer knows that if there was someone wearing a red and black shirt, I would take them off (laughs) - he says.
The feature film about BOPE (the Rio Military Police's Special Operations Battalion) was so successful that phrases used by the characters became Carioca slang. They were also used by the press to describe the team's run in the Brasileirão, with headlines in bold letters.
"I kept all the newspaper covers that linked Flamengo to the 'Tropa de Elite'. I have everything," he reveals.
When it comes to comparing the main characters in the work and players or coach Joel Santana, Padilha avoids making any connections.
"I don't think Joel is the Captain Nascimento type. He's a roguish, old-school Carioca. He has something to do with Flamengo," he says.
For the director, the strength of the red-black fans, which he intends to show in the documentary, was the determining factor in the team's qualification for the 2008 Libertadores.
"It was a wonderful end of the year. The film continued to do well at the box office, and Flamengo achieved something historic. I can't remember any other team in the Brazilian league going from the relegation zone to the Libertadores so quickly. The fans were used to fighting to avoid relegation, but this year their perspective changed. They knew how to support the team and showed that they are as they always have been," he concludes.