“A film like Projecto Global can show the fine line between resistance and terrorism, and how easily that line is blurred by idealism.”

It was only half a century ago that Europe was suffering through the Years of Lead, during which a wave of far-left terrorism held the continent in its grip. One of the last countries to be affected by it was Portugal. On April 25, 1974, the country had freed itself from the yoke of nearly 50 years of fascist dictatorship. The working classes were dreaming of a socialist future. Agrarian reform, the formation of collectives, the nationalization of banks and industry fueled a period of hope. The dream lasted a year and a half, after which liberals took power and Europe’s economic crisis of the late ’70s and early ’80s plunged Portuguese society into a state of hopelessness. The country rapidly fell back to its old ways, with the state violently repressing its people. It is against this background that Ivo M. Ferreira situates Projecto Global, as he paints a portrait of idealism gone wrong by following some of the operatives of a far-left armed group that terrorized Portugal through politically motivated killings and violent robberies and bombings. Balancing empathy and abhorrence, Projecto Global shows that being convinced you’re doing the right thing can be a slippery slope towards doing wrong.

The sprawling story of the film is structured around a love triangle. Rosa (Jani Zhao) and Jaime (Rodrigo Tomás) are members of FP-25, an armed resistance group that aims to reclaim workers’ rights and fights against what they see as the return of fascism to the country. Their ideals have blinded them to the point where a ‘by all means necessary’ use of violence becomes a justified way to reach their goals. Rosa and Jaime are also in love, and this is where things get complicated, because Rosa is also romantically entangled with Marlow (José Pimentão). Him being a cop, and part of the team that is to track down and eliminate FP-25, puts Rosa and her son in a precarious situation. As the net closes around their organization and members start snitching and dropping like flies, Jaime and Rosa become increasingly isolated while Marlow tries to get the woman he loves out of the hands of his superior (Ivo Canelas).

The time period and the film’s epic nature evoke comparisons with Kleber Mendonça Filho’s recent The Secret Agent, another story about paranoia under a repressive regime, albeit minus the armed resistance. Like that film, Projecto Global also has the tendency to meander and leave its audience confused with its barrage of side characters. Where Mendonça’s film shines in the characterization of its protagonist, the leading trio of Projecto Global are too thinly drawn, with especially the two men being more defined by their actions than their motivations, and often merely serving as the devil and the angel (with an ambiguity about who is the angel in this scenario) on the shoulders of their female counterpart. Rosa is granted more backstory through her relationship with her young son and a sister she can count on, which allows Zhao to display some emotional heft, but it is too little to allow the film to become deeply invested in her character. For that matter, it also sidesteps too often to its extensive supporting cast, including the likes of Gonçalo Waddington and Isac Graça, the latter being the only one whose role goes beyond a plot device. A tighter screenplay with more focus on its central characters would have benefited the film, but Ferreira is too tempted by the sprawl of it all.

Which, to his credit, he directs with gusto, turning Projecto Global into the type of political thriller that evokes similar films from the ’70s (even if the film’s time frame is the early ’80s). The costumes (Lucha D’Orey), production design (Nuno Mello), and cinematography (Vasco Viana) are all on point and add to the immersive experience of the film. The set pieces are not particularly thrilling but more gritty and down-to-earth than similar moments in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another (also a work that Projecto Global instinctively draws comparisons to) due to a more sober direction by Ferreira. The film’s nearly two-and-a-half-hour runtime is felt, especially because it keeps the audience at arm’s length with regards to its main characters, but Ferreira’s hand in the film’s mise-en-scène and visual look keeps it afloat, and he manages to imbue the film with a moral ambiguity of sorts that raises some talking points. There is a clear affection for the armed resistance here, for their idealism and the romanticized image of the rebel, yet the film isn’t afraid to show the abhorrent nature of their violence either. When is violent resistance justified? One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. In a time when regimes seemingly become more oppressive by the minute (one need only look at the US for a clear example), a film like Projecto Global can show the fine line between resistance and terrorism, and how easily that line is blurred by idealism. And just for this idea alone the film deserves to be seen, because the world creeps closer to an era of resistance, and it would be painful to repeat the mistakes of the past, no matter how much we want to do right.