Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) Image
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Metascore
71 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.6 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

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  • Summary: Manda Bala explores the cycles of violence that plague Brazil’s upper and lower economic classes in fits of rampant corruption and violent kidnappings. The film chronicles these cycles by utilizing highly personalized stories that reflect the growing truth about Brazil’s huge economic disparsparities – differences that cause violence on both sides of the spectrum.
    A frog farm connected to a corrupt politician and one of the most powerful men in Brazil; a kidnapping victim who had both her ears cut off before she was released to her parents; a wealthy plastic surgeon who pioneered the procedure used to reconstruct the ears of kidnapping victims; and a kidnapper who has watched many like him escape the poorest parts of Brazil for the wealthier Sao Paolo, where they terrorize the upper class with kidnappings, theft and murder. Manda Bala explores the various cottage industries cropping up in response to the violence and links these stories to weave a compelling narrative about what happens in a country where the rich and powerful steal from the poor, and in turn some of the poor terrorize the rich. (City Light Pictures)    … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Glenn Kenny
    88
    As forceful as its title suggests, and sometimes unbelievably ballsy.
  2. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    80
    Kohn’s gripping Manda Bala is the opposite of a high-school science doc. It’s a free-form portrait of a place--Brazil--with scary running motifs: kidnapping, mutilation, plastic surgery, bulletproofing, and frog farming.
  3. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    80
    Gorgeous and terrifying.
  4. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    60
    Instead of seriously investigating corruption, money laundering and the buying of politicians, Manda Bala would rather spend its time showing slimy brown frogs slithering over one another as they are dumped from one container into another.

See all 16 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. MarlusF.
    10
    Manda Bala is an honest, accurate and courageous portrait that de-constructs the overrated Brazilian clichés (carnaval, women, soccer and samba). An eye-opening view of a society in a forced state of numbness and indifference before a surreal ultra violent reality and a non declared civil war. According to all international standards, Brazil is the most violent place in the solar system, with more them 45,000 murders per year and astonishing 630 cases of "flash kidnappings" per month only the the city of Sao Paulo. Kohn's initiative to bring these issues to the table give room to even more questions, specially concerning the middle class' struggle to survive and keep its physical integrity ans sanity between the clash of the extreme poor and the extreme rich layers of Brazilian society.… Expand
  2. PaulK.
    9
    Equally disturbing as it is fascinating. The information could have been presented in a more cohesive manner, especially the see saw of subtitles vs. language interpreters, but otherwise a well made doc.… Expand
  3. Alexandra
    9
    A very fascinating look at the Darwin-esque struggle between the very rich and the unimaginably poor in one of the world's most dangerous cities. Though the footage is gruesome at times, it does much to accentuate the brutality the people of Sao Paolo are faced with on a daily basis. The film linked all the stories together well; it exposes how the rich steal from the poor, and the poor seek vengeance on their oppressors. A very powerful, gripping, and well done documentary. I was completely captivated.… Expand
  4. ChadS.
    8
    People are sluts for the camera, even in Brazil. The frog farmer has a lot of chutzpah, like any number of guys who believe they won't crack under the pressure of hardline questioning. Bottom line: people like to talk, even if they have something to hide. But men with hubris possess a feeling of invincibility, so they foolishly grant sit-down interviews like volunteers for firing squads. The frog farmer bears a passing resemblance to the sort of people that Errol Morris profiled in "Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control". When the filmmaker loses interest in the agricultural aspect of his operations, the frog farmer asks the cameraman to stop shooting, after a question is posed to him about an alleged scandal that involved one of his friends. Right about then, the interviewer quietly slips off his gloves, and drops any pretense that he's shooting a quirky character profile about a colorful person's idiosyncratic obsession(the subject of Morris' documentary). The camera rolls on. The frog farmer looks a little nervous. Some will argue that "Manda Bala" is a stylish op/ed piece like Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11"(because the documentarian already had his mind made up about the subject), but the frog farmer's refusal to talk, backs up the prosecutor's claim that Jader Barbalho is more like a mafia don than a politician. This filmmaker scores a coup when he gets his subject to do an on-camera interview, although he won't talk about the frogs(the first rule of frog farm is- you do not talk about frog farm), which is better than Moore, who could never lure General Motors CEO Roger Smith in "Roger and Me". "Manda Bala" is exciting like a narrative film. It's better than Fernando Meirelles' "Cidade de deus", that's for sure.… Expand

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