Review: Film about Eike Batista does well by showing the businessman’s charisma

It is difficult to remain indifferent to “Eike – All or Nothing”. The feature tells the story of Eike Batista, a mining entrepreneur who was quickly elevated to the list of the ten richest men in the world — only to lose almost everything.

The way he manages the EBX group, with reflexes similar to those of a poker player, and the peculiarities of everyday life, such as the custom of toasting with milk and not with alcoholic beverages, already make the protagonist a great character.

Possessing such a trump card and with a clear narrative structure, the film manages suspense and tastefully tells the narrative of Eike Batista’s rise and fall. This is not a stylistically innovative film. Nor should one expect impressive performances. We are, indeed, facing a story rich in information and very well told.

The film is inspired by the book-report by Malu Gaspar, who was head of the Rio branch of Exame magazine at the time when the businessman’s fortune grew exponentially, reaching more than US$ 30 billion ten years ago. The journalist also followed the collapse of her business over the following years, culminating in her arrest five years ago.

The cut that the duo of directors and screenwriters Andradina Azevedo and Dida Andrade gave to the biography of Eike Batista privileges the economic aspects of his trajectory. The plot gives little emphasis, for example, to his marriage to the actress and model Luma de Oliveira.

The plot thus resists the temptation to recreate the Tradition parade at the sambadrome in 1998 — who doesn’t remember his name spelled on the collar she wore? The film also wastes no time in showing yacht races, parties and the luxury in which the protagonist lived.

The entire narrative effort focuses on the not-so-obvious task of making Eike Batista’s business story comprehensible and, more importantly, pleasant, from the success in going public with his mining company to the decision to invest in oil exploration.

Amazingly, the film manages to explain how the businessman and his entourage — known as the “praetorian guard” — surfed after the discovery of the pre-salt layer, acquiring deposits and speculating on their production capacity. At this point, journalistic resources, such as infographics inscribed on the image, help. It is a case where the television record is exploited in a fruitful way.

Interpreted by Nelson Freitas, the Eike Batista of cinema has comic contours and an irresistible charisma. Intrigued and captivated by the seductive speech of such a unique businessman, the viewer can understand the small investors who believed in the businessman and acquired shares in the group, breaking the face when the businessman began to lose his Midas powers.

For the public, it is a lesson in speculative capitalism. And the pleasure of a narrative grounded in the well-researched reportage that gives rise to the film.