Trash

There’s a lazy habit in the film industry of boiling things down to an elevator pitch and then sticking with that description.  Therefore, it’s no surprise that Trash has become widely known as a Brazilian, Slumdog Millionaire.  Directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Richard Curtis, the film has star power behind the scenes, but then chose to follow the City of God model by taking its lead actors from the streets of Brazil, rather than the glamour of Hollywood.

Those three leads, Rickson Tevez, Eduardo Luis and Gabriel Weinstein play Raphael, Gardo and Rato respectively, whose lives are thrown into turmoil when they find a wallet on the rubbish heap in which they make their living.  The wallet is wanted by a lot of important people and as they work to unravel the secrets behind it, they face the full brunt of the Brazilian governments willingness to bend the laws, in order to get what they want.

In some ways it’s easy to see the Slumdog comparisons.  Children from the streets finding themselves in incredible situations, where the ‘man’ doesn’t want them to be.  However, it’s a lazy comparison and one we are going to leave behind.  Because, Trash isn’t a traditionally easy watch.  It’s predominately spoken in Brazilian Portuguese and it doesn’t shy away from showing the realities of this world.  Whether it’s the daily trudge of slugging through the trash heap, desperately searching for something of value or the brutality of the police grabbing a child off said heap, to torture them for information.  Throwing them handcuffed into the back of a police car and doing doughnuts, throwing the kid from side to side.  It’s a harrowing moment and one that makes you want to get up and do something to stop these injustices.

The scenes not spoken in Portuguese tend to centre around their local priest (Martin Sheen) and NGO Worker (Rooney Mara).  However, they avoid the temptation of making these big stars the central characters.  Instead, this is all about the three leads, who put on wonderfully energetic performances.  The three children bounce off each other wonderfully and their ability to constantly make these dark times seem a little bit lighter through their relationship feels incredibly real.  They are what takes this film to the next level and if they choose to do so, you could easily see them becoming stars.

The other thing that makes this film work so well, is how nicely it walks between this darkness and the kind of schmaltz we are used to seeing from Richard Curtis.  While the looks at the corruption of the Brazilian government are unflinching, the film also isn’t afraid of descending into the kind of emotional blackmail that Curtis has made his stock in trade.  The final act in particular slightly jumps the shark and is obviously set up to raise a tear from the audience.  However, when combined with the darkness that came before it seems to level itself out.  It feels more like a welcome relief, than the groan inducer you might expect it to be.

Trash is much more than a Slumdog Millionaire rip off and though it will never find the kind of audience that film did, it achieves everything it sets out to.  It’s three leads put on wonderful performances and the story manages to make a brilliant point and shine a light on a country that many people will have very little knowledge of the inner workings of.  However, it also never forgets to be an enjoyable movie at the same time.  It shows these people as real beings with sad times and happy, who don’t view their lives as a chore, but rather as their lives and something which has all the ups and downs me and you experience on a daily basis.  It’s that success that makes this movie worth your time.