When Fernando Meirelles unveiled the favelas of Rio de Janeiro in his distinguished masterpiece “City of God,” the whole world sat up and took notice because it was something that had never been done before. In “The Elite Squad” (Tropa de Elite), which won the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival and deserves the award for the most alienating narration, “Bus 174” director José Padilha returns to the sprawling, gang-infested war zone with one significant, albeit under-nuanced divergence. He turns the spotlight on those who find themselves on the other side of the law; the mostly corrupt policemen who are so overwhelmed by the power and influence of the gangs that they do what they can in order to keep them more or less in line but nothing more.

That’s where the BOPE (Battalion for Special Police Operations) come in, a stealth and unapologetic elite squad trained to bombard the slums and extinguish unwanted individuals without ever looking back, similar to the criminals they target. The pressured captain of the squad Nascimento (Wagner Moura), who also serves as our incessantly condescending narrator, is nearing a total psychological breakdown which makes him eager to retire from his heartless profession and answer to the call of a different one that requires a little more warmth, compassion and tenderness – fatherhood.

With the Pope’s looming visit to the city where he has chosen to stay with a priest living in the heart of the favelas, Nascimento is told that he has to stick around to find, train and toughen a suitable replacement as well as handling the reins of an intensive mission that would see the area fit for a papal appointment of such importance. The visit is so important in fact that soon after we hear about it, it vanishes from the story all together. This is just one example of the films inability to follow through on its intense build-ups.

The rookie finalists on Nascimento’s recruitment list, friends Neto and Mathais who are as different as chalk and cheese, are as fervent to get into the squad, as he is to get the hell out. They share a fiercely naïve determination to put an end to the inexorable corruption and criminally underutilised “clean” methods of maintaining peace amidst a war where the good guys are separated from the bad guys by a line so blurred it is near impossible to tell the difference.

With a wealth of parallel complex strands that form part of a quickly perishing power structure, Padilha unreservedly delivers a straight-as-a-pencil depiction that eliminates any emotional shadings that would anchor the ruthless action. The supposed glorification of vigilante justice is shameless, but apt too. For the situation the film documents is one where there are no boundaries to speak of and no one for the vigilantes to answer to. The film itself doesn’t do the glorifying; it’s those that the film depicts that do, those who do so in order to survive in an extremely harsh and forbidding environment. Padilha finds a one-sided way of portraying individuals who embody a fascist ideology, those that break the laws they aim to uphold, and allows for little opposition in terms of that.

Structurally, the film couldn’t be weaker. Perhaps this is because too many people were involved in shaping it during the editing phase that resulted in a messy, cluttered story stripped of emotional connectivity that would have otherwise bridged the one-note rationalisations. Written at first by Rodrigo Pimentel, a former BOPE captain, and then tightened up and redefined by Bráulio Mantovani, who helped pen “City of God,” it was finally decided that the story would be told from Nascimento’s frame of reference. Also added was the tell-all narrative that would do wonders for the film if it were removed and a temperamental timeline that switches around every few minutes that makes keeping up a job unto itself. It’s not an impossible task, just one that puts a definite damper on the constant adrenalin-injected momentum.

Visually comparable to its superior predecessors, lensed by Lula Carvalho, the grittily authentic images envelope the film’s strongest aspect, the performances, and make for a pseudo-documentary feel. Wagner Moura is an obvious standout. He is not only the most affecting to watch, but is also the candid filter through which we are introduced to the secondary characters. He first appears to be a hardened, impenetrable soul but as soon as we are familiarized with the emotional intricacies and inner demons that take over his hard-ass persona, he becomes the sole reason for taking an interest in everyone else. When he is off screen, while his maladroit narration tries to fill the void, it is almost as if the film loses its breath and clumsily struggles to find its footing. It barely does.

The most problematic component of the already heavily flawed film is that it requires almost zero intellectualisation from the viewer whatsoever. This is odd because there is an incoherent but evident stream of thought-provoking questions brought forth. Frustratingly, the film poses them, ponders them, and ultimately answers them too (in the narration no less). We are told why everything happens, why it is important, how we should react to it. If nothing else, it is a rare opportunity to watch a film that engrosses one moment, and repels the next. As unique as that may be, it’s just plain perplexing.

For anyone expecting a nuanced portrait of life in the exotic underbelly of society, you are guaranteed to be disappointed. “The Elite Squad” is a straightforward yet somewhat fascinatingly vivid portrait of a culture so entangled in crime and corruption that it has become a justified way of life, as there is no easy way out. It’s all brawn, little brain and audaciously entertaining on the most mediocre level there is.

Fatac Rating: ***

The Elite Squad (Tropa de Elite). Written and Directed by José Padilha. Cinematography by Lula Carvalho. Editing by Daniel Rezende. Music by Pedro Bromfman. Starring: Wagner Moura, André Ramiro, Caio Junqueira and Milhem Cortaz. Running Time: 115 minutes. Age Restriction: 16LV. Year: 2008. In Portuguese w/subtitles. Rating: 3 out of 5 stars. [C]