Slated for release in 2013, RoboCop might seem a strange proposition for a winner of the Berlin Film Festival’s prestigious Golden Bear award (for Elite Squad in 2008). Padilha is known for his unflinching portrayal of very real social problems in contemporary Rio de Janeiro: why should he be the man to present us with, on the face of it, another shameless raid on the Eighties back catalogue that’s already seen The Thing, Clash of the Titans and Conan the Barbarian open to lukewarm reviews?
Perhaps RoboCop is a special case. After all it is, among other things, a satire of corporate greed set in Detroit – today a notorious example of urban decay, making it particularly appropriate in view of the current recession. Happily, Padilha has no intention of dialling the social commentary down in his version, which retains Detroit as a setting.
“The satire element of RoboCop is, I think, needed today,” he tells me. “That kind of social, aggressive satire I haven’t seen done well in movies lately. And it’s almost like the politics and violence in the world is asking for this: 'Someone please make some satire now!' So we’re going to keep that edge.”
Considering the director’s previous work includes the thoughtful and harrowing documentary Bus 174, as well as his crime epics, it seems that a gritty, socially-conscious edge will be in there, especially if oft-rumoured lead Michael Fassbender (“I think he’s amazingly talented,” says Padilha) gets on board.
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Source-telegraph
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