Manda Bala is an incredible indictment; almost a cheerfully sad story of degradation on all levels of Brazilian society. In the documentary’s opening, we hear a prosecutor explaining how corruption is the source from which all other crimes flow. Over the next 85 minutes we see how the crimes of the rich are connected to the crimes of the poor.
Don’t be worried that you’ll find this a dull and boring documentary. Director Jason Kohn sarcastically mixes his tales with such lush, dazzling cinematography and happy, peppy Brazilian pop songs that you almost don’t mind hearing about the kidnappings and mutilations.
Kohl begins with the frog farmer who started with a $300,000 grant from the government. What’s wrong with that? Well, the government paid $9 million on this project alone. The other $8.7 million went into the pockets of corrupt politician Jadar Barbalho, only a small part of the estimated $2 billion he siphoned off the government.
What do the poor do without the money that is supposed to build their economy? They move to the slums of Sao Paolo and kidnap wealthy and middle class Brazilians. To prove that the victims are in danger, it has become a common practice to cut off an ear and send it to the family with the ransom demand.
The problem has become so widespread that dealing with kidnapping has become its own sector of the economy. Kohl looks at the companies that teach defensive driving and those that bulletproof cars to companies that are developing computer chips to implant into people so they can be tracked after they have been kidnapped. Kohl spends a lot of time with a plastic surgeon who specializes -- and glories -- in reconstructing severed ears.
The quality of the interview he gets are amazing from the frog farmer who is happy to get his piece of the pie, and the anti-kidnapping police who are overwhelmed by the extent of the crime, and the prosecutor who looked like he was going to be able to send Barbalho to jail. All are happy to tell how they are working to improve their country whether by economic or legal means.
The best, incredible interviews are: with one of the kidnapping victims who had both of her ears sliced off; the jittery businessman who lives in constant fear that he will be kidnapped soon; and with a man who makes his living as a kidnapper because it is easier and more profitable than robbing banks. All of these people would be worthy of a full documentary of their own. It is to Kohl’s credit that he is able to get such engaging interviews that he always has you wanting to hear more of their stories.
I have a couple of minor criticisms of the movie. Kohl leaves it to the viewer to make several important connections between the stories and the gaps are sometimes confusing. Also it is dishonest to try to make one man entirely responsible for all the social and economic problems of one country. Also some of the symbolism of the frogs becoming cannibals when they are underfed is a little too on the nose for my taste.
Overall, Manda Bala is an incredibly well done documentary; one that should have gotten much more attention at the time of its release. This movie is always engaging.