Legalize Já: Amizade Nunca Morre (2017) User Reviews

Biography of an oustanding, but mostly unknown, character of Brazilian Rap

[iradao · 7/10 · 26 October 2018]

The movie title is not very good, since it is not about marijuana or legalization. It is about two rap artists who meet: Marcelo D2 (Renato Goes) and Luiz Skunk (Ícaro Silva) and how they manage to begin a rap/raggamuffin band called Planet Hemp, which was pretty inovative, at least in Brazil 1990's.

The photography shows a gray Rio de Janeiro without postcards, except by the arcs of Lapa, that helps to depicte a city with a lot of prejudice against black and poor people where there is police violence and truculence.

Besides than telling how a band was formed, the film is about how the character Skunk inoculates some thoughts and values inside Marcelo D2, that until now has sound solo career. Those values and thougths were already inside Marcelo but they only came out after his meetings with Skunk. Of course they are often smoking marijuana, what is forbidden in Brazil until now.

Very nice acting by Ícaro Silva and Stephan Nercessian, who plays Marcelo's father.

I missed anything about the other band members such as Gustavo Black Alien and B. Negão.

I won't analyze further because I don't want to create spoilers since it is the first review here.

Life of black poor youth in Rio de Janeiro and the rise of an important rap band

[guisreis · 8/10 · 21 October 2022]

A very good biographic film about rappers Marcelo D2 and Skunk and the creation of their band Planet Hemp, an icon in the defense of legalizing marijuana in Brazil. Nearly black and white cinematograhy (as a matter of fact, it is a color one, but with almost 0% saturation) is beautiful. The script brings a consistent development of both main characters, very well played by Renato Góes and Ícaro Silva. It is also a good film about the constraints and disrespects young poor guys, particularly if they are back, face in Brazil and in Rio de Janeiro. The story is held in the 90's (what is referenced in TV shows and, ironically, in bad mainstream songs that were playing everywhere and the two rapper friends hated so much). However, both racist police aggression against and the robbery by policemen of the goods street traders are selling for making a living are cruelties which did not belong only to those years, but that continued in following decades. It is a good film about friendship, about labour, about vulnerable households, about HIV epidemic, about music. Worth watching (and I was surprised, as I did not hear about it previously).