In an interview with journalist Juca Kfouri on the program EntreVistas, broadcast by TV dos Trabalhadores in 2021, João remarked that the scene in which Lula is declared president was almost cut.[14] João stated that after Lula’s victory, when the newly elected president was declared president and went to the InterContinental Hotel in the Paulista Avenue area of São Paulo, the film crew returned to the hotel where they were staying, the Hilton Hotel in São Paulo[pt].[14] To celebrate the end of filming, the crew hugged each other and went to Paulista Avenue, where Lula gave a speech.[14] Later, the crew realized one of the cameras was missing.[14] After calling the police, suspecting that the van parked near Paulista Avenue might have been robbed, they decided to return to the Hilton around 3 a.m., where they searched the room but did not find the camera[14]. As they got off the elevator, the crew realized that the camera had been left on the sofa in the hotel lobby for approximately six hours, containing exclusive, never-before-seen footage of how the PT’s inner circle celebrated Lula’s victory.[14]
Cast
Among the political figures featured in the documentary are:[15][16]
The film was released in theaters in 2004.[17][18]
Home media
The DVD of the film was released in November 17, 2006.[19][20] Along with it, a second film, Atos, was released, directed and edited by filmmaker Eduardo Escorel, with a runtime of approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes.[19][20] Unlike, which focuses on the private and behind-the-scenes moments of the campaign, “Atos” shows the public side: rallies, marches, and political events that were left out of the first film. Atos features previously unseen footage, including phone calls between Lula and George W. Bush and Tony Blair.[20]
Reception
Critical
Danilo Corci, writing for the pop culture website Omelete, gave the film a rating of three out of five.[21] In his positive review, Corci stated, Intermissions presents three sides of the same man: a historical Lula, on the verge of winning the presidency; a playful Lula, who spares no one with his jokes; and an actor Lula, aware that he was being filmed at a peculiar moment. And power always knows how to put on a good show."[21]
Fernando de Barros e Silva[pt], of the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, wrote that: "Intermissions is far from being an official or quasi-official portrait of the PT campaign. Despite the director’s unmistakable affection for the central character, the image of Lula that emerges from the film is controversial and, at the very least, ambiguous. Furthermore, the film sheds new light on much of what has transpired since then, during nearly two years of government.”[22]
In the wake of the Mensalão scandal, journalist Laura Mattos wrote in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that the film had taken on a new tone. "Before, it was just a documentary about the behind-the-scenes of Lula’s presidential campaign. The day before yesterday, at its re-release at the Sala Cinemateca, João Moreira Salles’s film became a detective game for viewers searching for “clues” regarding allegations of government corruption. For those who had already seen the film before the crisis (BC), it was clear that now, after the crisis (AC), Intermissions is a “different film.”[26] After receiving the DVD, journalist Barbara Gancia[pt] wrote a negative review of the film in Folha de S. Paulo in 2006, gave the film a negative review stating that the editing is “microsurgery in its precision, cutting with a sharp scalpel every scene in which Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known for his short temper, begins to lose patience with something, ultimately transforming what was intended to be a behind-the-scenes account of a presidential campaign into a ‘coitus interruptus".[27] The journalist also stated, “It’s a declaration of love for Lula. Yes, all the PT members who later fell from grace are there".[27]
12Clairefont, Edmundo (March 8, 2007). "Verdades demais". Trip (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on February 13, 2026. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
12Corci, Danilo (November 25, 2004). "Entreatos". Omelete (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on April 9, 2026. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
↑Jorge, Marina (2011). Lula no documentário brasileiro[Lula in the Brazilian documentary] (in Brazilian Portuguese) (1sted.). Campinas: Editora da Unicamp. p.231. ISBN978-8526809468.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
