[A] bizarre, often riveting film about contemporary Brazil.

| Feb 3, 2020

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Nov 17, 2011

Less interested in analyzing So Paulo's place in the shaky Brazilian system than in jacking it up with shorthand, gawk-at-the-foreigners shocks

| Aug 27, 2009

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 18, 2008

Despite the seriousness of the topic, Manda Bala may be the most visually creative film you will see this year.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Sep 19, 2008

To address the economic inequality of teeming Sao Paulo, Brazil, documentary maker Jason Kohn has joined several loosely related topics into a sort of rhetorical doughnut, leaving a hole in the center where his thesis should be.

| Jan 4, 2008

Kohn takes [risks] in this convoluted but fascinating documentary -- and most of those choices pay off.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 1, 2007

Kohn is a talented filmmaker and he's tackled a subject not seen before in documentary film, but you almost feel bludgeoned by the depressing state of Brazil instead of introduced to the problems there.

| Nov 1, 2007

Fascinating, and presented with such panache that you can't help but get drawn in.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 11, 2007

Kohn does a good job of bringing grim issues to light in a surprisingly entertaining manner. But maybe with a few more years of experience, he could make those issues resonate more fully.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Oct 6, 2007

Kohn, who shot Manda Bala in lush widescreen format and makes deft use of Brazilian pop music to give the film a cleverly incongruous soundtrack, is intent on making a picture that is as visceral to watch as it is to contemplate.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 5, 2007

Kohn has produced an astonishingly honest and frankly shocking documentary.

| Sep 29, 2007

Artful framing and 23 peppy songs on the soundtrack lend a gloss to subject matter that alternately repels and fascinates...

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 28, 2007

We see where this is going early on; by the end, despite the film's beautiful cinematography, persuasive subjects and ironically upbeat soundtrack, we just feel bludgeoned.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 27, 2007

Manda Bala (Send a Bullet), a documentary about corruption, crime and human adaptation during difficult circumstances, is a slick, sly and beautifully shot documentary.

| Sep 27, 2007

A documentary that works like a puzzle.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 21, 2007

Wow, bet the Brazilian Tourism Board hates this movie.

| Sep 21, 2007

With a keen eye for wide-screen imagery, Kohn captures the personalities of his interview subjects.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 21, 2007

The movie has a great flashiness -- copter shots that swoop over Sao Paulo; swift, playful editing; and pop-operatic sequences driven by catchy songs.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 14, 2007

It's thrilling viewing throughout, but Kohn's talents don't yet match his ambitions.

Full Review | Sep 12, 2007