Coroner Dr. Olavo Bilac (Carlos Alberto Riccelli) returns to Brasilia from Los Angeles to perform an autopsy on the body of Eugenia Camara (Karine Carvalho), a young woman working in politics who was believed to be having affairs with prominent men and murdered by her jealous boyfriend. After leaving the airport the doctor is reintroduced to the wealthy, casually corrupt world of Brazilian politics at a swank party. It soon becomes clear that the powers-that-be expect him to positively identify the body without asking any questions, even though DNA tests haven't proven that the body is Eugenia's. At the party he is seduced by Georgesand Romero (Malu Mader), whose powerful and well-connected family appears to be implicated in the disappearance of Camara. The next morning Bilac decides, to everyone's shock, that he will not immediately ID the body and will conduct an investigation into its real identity, Camara's whereabouts, and the political scandal that seems to lie beneath the mystery. He comes under increasing pressure and threats to halt his investigation and struggles to reconcile the youthful idealisms of his friends with the present reality: that when having acquired power in adulthood they are just as crooked and amoral as their predecessors. He is also recovering from the death of his wife Laura (Bruna Lombardi) and experiences hallucinations of her and eventually Camara too. Bilac must eventually decide whether or not he too should give in, abort his detective work, and return to Los Angeles. ~ Michael Buening, All Movie Guide
Review
Before seeing Brasilia 18% it's helpful to know two things: 1) Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, is like a combination of Las Vegas and Los Angeles: a slick, materialistic city in the middle of nowhere, and 2) director Nelson Pereira dos Santos made a name for himself documenting poverty and political corruption in his native country. Otherwise, this deadpan ironic indictment of weak-willed convictions jawboned into an inept political thriller can easily be misinterpreted as tonally confused disappointment. It opens with "star" coroner Olavo Bilac (Carlos Alberto Riccelli) arriving in the title city from Los Angeles to file a report on the body of a missing woman, Eugenia (Karine Carvalho). He doesn't think the body is the woman; it becomes immediately apparent local politicians are trying to cover up a corruption scandal. Bilac tries to figure out the truth, but not very hard and it doesn't matter because everyone knows about the scandal and yet they all tell the same false story. Bilac is also busy having hallucinatory sex with his dead wife and Eugenia who while lying in bed sweetly whispers Bilac's motto (or excuse) for delusional apathy, "if you desire, then it is not a dream." ~ Michael Buening, All Movie Guide
