Rarely seen outside Brazil, even though part-funded by the UK Film Council and by the director Stephen Frears, JEAN CHARLES tells the story of Jean Charles de Menezes (Selton Mello), the Brazilian immigrant in London wrongly shot dead by the Metropolitan Police on suspicion of being a terrorist.Henrique Goldman's film claims to be "based on a true incident," yet includes a lot of contemporary footage taken during the 7/7 bombings and afterwards, together with speeches given at the time of the atrocity by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair, as well as other officials including Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair. The film does not pretend to be even-handed in its judgment, as it portrays de Menezes as an innocent man trying to make a living in a tough and unforgiving environment, who was gunned down while traveling on the Underground through Stockwell Station.For the most part the film concentrates on developing the relationship between de Menezes and his cousin Vivian (Vanessa Giacomo), as they pursue every job that is available, while trying to cope with living abroad. They largely keep themselves to themselves, largely associating with fellow-Brazilians both at home and at work. There is one sequence, ostensibly taking place in an underground club, where once-famous singer Sidney Magal (playing himself) performs to an ecstatic crowd of expats, emphasizing the strength of community among an under-represented nation in contemporary London.The plot is a slight one: de Menezes ekes out a living as a builder, working for Indian tycoon Dilip (Renu Setna) but ending up coming into conflict with a fellow-Brazilian entrepreneur. Eventually de Menezes is forced to leave the building trade and become a sandwich-board person, interspersed with cleaning London taxis at dawn.The cinematography (by Guillermo Escalon) is very much documentary-style, focusing on London's familiar landmarks interspersed with the grimy suburban streets where de Menezes lives.Not perhaps the most interesting of films, to be honest, but it does recapture the jumpy atmosphere of London in the wake of one of its worst terrorist atrocities, that explained the Metropolitan Police's over-zealous desire to find a suitable suspect, even if that "suspect" was totally innocent.

Henrique Goldman's Jean Charles is very disappointing, with just about every aspect of the movie being flawed. The script is unconvincing, the cinematography is mediocre, the direction is loose, most performances are very poor and the narrative is full of errors.Selton Mello depiction of Jean Charles - who has mistaken for a terrorist and consequently murdered by Scotland Yard in London five years ago – is just average. Vanessa Giacomo provides one of the few refreshing aspects of the film: she is very touching as Jean Charles's cousin Vivian, conveying a solemn, subtle sadness and a true sense of alienation to her immigrant experience. Other characters are highly clichéd: the camp gay friend, the greedy Asian restaurant owner, the imbecile immigration officer and the inarticulate country bumpkin.Confusingly, the director states in the opening that the film is "inspired by a real story", and yet he depicted the most important events of the Jean's saga in London as close as possible to reality. This includes the moment Jean Charles is shot inside a train at Stockwell station, as well as various locations and character names throughout the film. The result is a jumble of actual facts and clumsily fabricated and embroidered story lines – a cinematic zorse (a morbid crossing and zebra and horse).Some scenes are unnecessary, unrealistic and grossly crafted and enacted, such as when Jean and his builder friends are rewarded for their hard work with a group of bosomy prostitutes and a sex party unravels, or when Vivian encounters an old acquaintance and is seemingly surprised by his effeminate looks and bulky black boyfriend.There is a succession of glaring bloopers and blunders, far beyond the innocent continuity error. For example, Jean Charles's cousin Vivian inexplicably masters English and a large builder's job worth a whopping £80,000 is completed to perfection by Jean Charles and his friends in less than two weeks – the period between the London bombings and Jean Charles's death.Sidney Magal's live performance – a Brazilian singer from the 1980s who has long fallen into near-obscurity – adds a rare spark of originality to the film. It celebrates tacky culture and offers a return to a primal, unpretentious root of Brazilian pop culture.Goldman's intentions in making a film about Jean Charles and reminding us of the impunity of his killers are praiseworthy. He was also well-positioned to do so, being a Brazilian immigrant in London. He worked hard to obtain funds from the UK Film Council as well as support from British legend Stephen Frears. But the film has not even obtained theatrical distribution in the UK. The British film industry and British audiences are not to blame – I think that they would love to see a good film depicting the saga of the Brazilian electrician and the consequences of his untimely death. The problem is that Goldman's film delivers neither an opinionated account of the events nor a touching story of an immigrant: it is simply a bad film.

This film tells the story of a young man full of dreams who was tragically killed by British police when, in search for terrorists, committed this horrible crime. Jean Charles's only dream was to some day return to his homeland after being able to help his relatives faraway in Brazil. I had read a lot of news about Jean Charles, his family and friends, and his plans, but I never had thought about his life story becoming a film. This idea was great because brings up this happening for people and authorities to think about life value. This was not only Jean's but many other men's dreams. The film portrays this incredible story. Lead actor Selton Melo does an incredible job when he embodies Jean's dreams, sorrows and abrupt death. His acting is, of course, great. Overall, definitely worth going to see.