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Manda Bala | 
 enlarge | Director: Jason Kohn
Actors: Jader Barbalho, Claudio Fonteles, Helbio Dias, Juarez Avelar, Paulo Lamarao
Studio: WEA
Category: DVD
List Price: $26.98
Buy Used: $6.98
You Save: $20.00 (74%)
New (30) Used (21) from $6.98
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 19104
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Surround Sound, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), Portuguese (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 85 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WEAD600110D
UPC: 897246001102
EAN: 0897246001102
ASIN: B0012OSGV8
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: April 8, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: disc in excellent condition, cover has minor wear. former rental.
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Product Description
A dazzling yet harrowing examination of the tragic domino effect that has reshaped the face of brazil & created an entire industry built on corruption. This illustrates how corruption & kidnapping represent two sides of the same violent crime: the rich steal from the poor while the poor steal the rich. Studio: Wea-des Moines Video Release Date: 04/08/2008 Run time: 85 minutes Rating: Nr
Amazon.com
Manda Bala, Jason Kohn's first feature, is a strikingly beautiful and well-constructed documentary about cycles of violence and how it affects both victims and perpetrators. Filmed in Sao Paulo and banned in Brazil, the film consists of segments in which victims of kidnapping, politicians, policemen, and criminals are interviewed about crime and corruption in Brazil. Although it contains nearly surreal content, so shocking is it to discover this rampant criminal activity, its intelligent, cohesive portrayal of the situation avoids morbidity. English translators sit with interviewees, relaying in chilling detail stories that defy logic. Interviewee Christina recalls atrocities inflicted upon her by kidnappers, while footage of her miraculously talented plastic Surgeon, Dr, Juarez Avelar, shows how he helps those scarred. Mr. M, a businessman, enlists in a course about driving one's bulletproof car, while Magrinho, a masked drug trafficker, discusses the Robin Hood ideal behind kidnapping. Though no direct solutions are proposed, Manda Bala points fingers at corrupt politicians, illustrating how their greed leads to civilian poverty, and how this destitution leads to crime. --Trinie Dalton
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 manda bala to the producer October 11, 2008
Deneen White (newark new jersey)
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
Are we suppose to feel sorry for these rich guys getting kidnapped and robbed?
in a country that is corrupt, and the people especially the darker people, are treated poorly and deprived their basic human rights. why do you need a $350.000 car in a nation were the majority of the population live in extreme poverty.. I hope you all get kidnapped and robbed. You steal from the poor as witnessed in this documentary , then you whine about poor people targeting you...well ! yes ..just stupid..the guy who made this foolish doc, should have gave lots of video time to those who do the crimes...The poor people of brazil who have been mistreated...
 Wowww!!! Turn me 360 degree! September 16, 2008
B. Tavares (Los Angeles)
Beautiful. Humanize human beings. I wouldn't recommend to those who live in Sao Paulo or has love ones there. Great film about Brazil' system, economy, politics made by a foreigner. Surprised me.
Must see film for ALL Brazilian people.
The truth is not always easy to be faced but is necessary.
courageous story of Brazil from different perspectives July 22, 2008
jtherkel (Atlanta, GA)
The first-time filmmaker makes a courageous and largely successful attempt to weave together the stories of many Brazilians from different walks of life. The stories of corruption and violence make you despair, but the rich cinemetography and soundtrack of 1960s Brazilian music reveal a love for the country and hope for the future.
It's interesting that the movie City of God was a fictional story shot in a documentary style with digital video. Manda Bala was a non-fiction documentary shot with film, which was more labor-intensive but resulted in better images.
Manda Bala June 19, 2008
Emery Martin-snyder (Phoenix, AZ)
I was a bit unsure of this one. Although I have found myself being drawn into them once I start them, I have never gotten very excited about watching documentaries. I was a bit apprehensive about one of them being my first Spout screener because I'm not sure I know how to review a documentary. They usually seem to be the type of film that you would see when an interest in that subject already exists. Oh well, I digress, it had all the makings of something I'd be interested in: fascinating synopsis, good cover art, frogs and subtitles.
First and foremost about this movie had to be the cinematography. This is not a trait you would necessarily associate with docs but this one just set the bar. The overall scenery was gorgeous, and some of the angles they used with the high speed camera, especially at the frog farm, peaked my interest. I also liked the ear replacement scene in the dimmed operating room.
I liked the music selection as well. I did think the sound editing was a little confused. It seemed that parts had the background music so loud that you couldn't really hear the interviews. Of course, I don't speak Portuguese anyway so I'm not sure exactly what I'm complaining about.
This movie also has a bit of footage from ransom tapes that are mixed in. As the film progresses, this clips continue to get more and more graphic. It actually is a little surprising that the director chose to put some of the more gut-wrenching scenes in because it comes up so gradually. I didn't find this to be overly sensationalistic and if you are squeamish, you have plenty of time to close your eyes.
The problem I had with this documentary was that for the vast majority of it, I wasn't sure of its thesis. I believe that the filmmaker (Kohn) was attempting to make a dramatic philosophical point, but it ultimately became clouded by the many different directions the rest of the film takes you. I think that what he was trying to say was that, if S.U.D.A.M. (a government program designed to re-distribute wealth to poorer regions) would have not been taken over by corruption and greed, Sao Paulo would be a dramatically different place. This may very well hold to be true, but didn't we also learn that the same politicians who are corrupted by greed are staying in power by buying the vast majority of their votes with more social welfare programs in the slums?
I also was unsure about the message behind the part about the violent nature in which Portugal took over Brazil. Was his attempt to say that this type of behavior is so embedded into the culture of Brazil that the country's future is doomed by its history?
After seeing all of the different industries that exist in Sao Paolo as a result of the kidnappings, I couldn't help but to ask myself: How many residents would be out of work if the region became more secure. If people stopped bulletproofing their cars, hiring bodyguards, replacing their ears, taking helicopters to work, putting microchips in their body and taking advanced defensive driving courses, what would happen to that part of the economy? And more importantly, will we ever find out?
Regardless of anything I didn't like about the movie, I would still have to recommend it. It was everything that you should want in a documentary. It was gripping from the opening scene and it keeps you absorbed with it right up until the closing credits. Any documentary should aspire to do what this one did, it pulled my interest into a subject that previously, I had none in.
KIDNAPPING AS SOCIAL JUSTICE May 15, 2008
doctor bondolo (CANADA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
THIS IS A DOCUMENTARY WITH A TWIST.IN A COUNTRY WHERE POLITICAL CORRUPTION AND POVERTY ARE EPIDEMIC KIDNAPPERS CORRECT SOCIAL INJUSTICE BY KIDNAPPING THE RICH AND DISPENSING THE RANSOMS TO THE POOR. AS ONE COMMENTATOR NOTED THIS COULD BE THE USA IN FIVE YEARS TIME.
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