Helplessly In the Deathroom

Helplessly In the Deathroom

 The Director’s Vision Statement of “Na Câmara da Morte” (In The Deathroom)

Thiago Ramos

During the making of Na Câmara da Morte, one thought was always in mind:

“This movie should feel helpless”

Putting yourself in the position of the protagonist, Armando Costa, should be a different and weird feeling. You’re a member of the communist party, being held captive.

The room sets the tone. A dark greenish space, where nothing much is seen, except for a table where scary and suspicious people stare at you with a big smile. One of these people is Pablo Escobar, the notorious Colombian drug lord, one of the most perverse criminals of Latin America.

As Escobar tries to talk information out of Armando, gradually it becomes impossible to get any real answers.

This setting gets the core feeling of the movie flowing. Escobar exhales a dangerous Aurea. His look is daunting, even when he seems amicable.

Armando exhales despair. He can’t breathe properly; He can’t feel his legs; The room is always spinning for him. Yet, He tries his best for not giving any information.

Escobar keeps bringing the conversation to these other characters that sit beside him. Heinz, a nazi lunatic doctor and his electrocution machine, Isabel Ochôa, a businesswoman on the top of the governmental line of power, and Ramon, half-blinded bodyguard.

The tension in the room rises. Escobar starts the interrogation with promises and a friendly smile. As Armando resists, the torture methods start to emerge. The protagonist’s situation becomes impossible to survive.

Simultaneously, hidden in a living room in Colombia, a small group gathers to plan ways to rescue Armando.

Here, a humble and warm place contrasts with the interrogation room.  Tata, Nuñez and Andres, members of the communist party sit by a table covered in maps and documents while an old TV transmits the news echoing through the house’s walls.

The situation is critical. Thomás, another comrade and Armando’s partner, is found dead. There is no other news on Armando’s location. Despair prevails on each face on the table.

This living room should feel prohibited, as a child overhears adults whispering through the doors. The comrades discuss, debate and arrive at a heated agreement through the movie. Just as Armando’s situation becomes more intense.

These sequences should make the movie feel urgent, desperate and- helpless.

Na Câmara da Morte characters all go by the main core feeling it tries to transfer: Helplessness.

As Escobar, expert in torture and interrogation, can’t get his answers, He feels impotent.

As Armando stares at his incoming death, He feels despair.

As Isabel, Heinz and Ramon, notice Armando is flipping the game and they perceive their deaths are near, they acknowledge their helplessness and try everything to survive. Isabel offers him his life back as Heinz and Ramon fight for their life.

During the heated debate on Tata’s house, Tata, Nuñez and Andres face their inability to help Armando. Just as Tata watches Tv with her son and sees the news on Escobar’s death. She couldn’t do anything about it, just as her fellow comrades couldn’t.

Every and each one of the Na Câmara da Morte characters have their own way of portraying different faces of the same idea:

“You can’t help now. And no one can help you”

– Thiago Ramos (January 25, 2025)