Justiça

In Justiça, Maria Ramos provides an oppressive picture of the Brazilian judicial system. She follows the three most important people involved in a criminal trial: a judge, a public attorney and a young suspect. The location is Rio de Janeiro, where the difference between poor and rich is enormous. In her documentary, Ramos shows that people guilty of violence are often young men, without any perspective for the future. Their taciturn behaviour and hurt looks communicate their feelings of impotence. They are the representatives of the new generation growing up in poverty and doomed to a life dictated by the established order. Similar to her Dutch Golden-Calf winning film Desi (2001), Ramos exploits an observational style of film making, without interviews. She creates an oppressive mood with tranquil shots of the interrogation in the small courthouse and shows the inhumane situation of being held on remand. Eduardo, caught for the second time after an accident with a stolen car and suspected of drug trafficking, is the ultimate representative of the lost generation that grew up in the favelas. While he is on remand, his young girlfriend has their second child. The film follows the three protagonists in their home and work situation. Not only the suspect, but also Geraldo and Ignez, the judge and lawyer, turn out to be tied hand and foot by the system.