Have you heard about Tropa de Elite? It's the most talked-about Brazilian film in years, not just for its explosive subject matter but also for its completely unprecedented journey to the big screen.

Tropa de Elite hits screens today in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, but according to the film's official website, the release date is (while I'm writing this) still listed as October 12 -- and until a few days ago, that was the distribution plan. But things didn't exactly go according to Universal's plan. Roughly a month ago, pirated DVDs of the film appeared on the streets of Rio and became an overnight sensation. By the time Tropa de Elite officially premiered as the opening night film of the Festival do Rio on September 20, an estimated one million copies of the film had already been sold. Due to the nature of piracy the numbers seem rather arbitrary, but a few weeks ago the popular TV program Fantástico said that three million people had seen it. I hear from my friends in Rio that how many times you've seen Tropa has become a matter of pride (you saw it twice? that's nothing!). So, in a desperate effort to actually get people to pay for a ticket to the movie, Universal made the last-minute decision to push Tropa's release date up a week, forcing movie theaters and distributors to hectically rearrange their already busy schedules.

Despite the fact that Tropa de Elite is backed by people like Harvey Weinstein - who doesn't exactly need my money - my conscience won't let me buy or watch a pirated copy of a Brazilian film, so I can't say if the hype is deserved until after this weekend. However, this is a movie I've been interested in for quite some time, namely because it's directed by José Padilha (who made the tragic documentary Bus 174) and starring one of the country's most talented actors, Wagner Moura. (In fact, the production had its fair share of drama, but I won't go into that here.) This time around, the subject matter is just as urgent as Bus 174's, centering on the training of an elite police squad before they enter battle with drug traffickers in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. The police are among the most universally loathed and untrusted people in Brazil, so narrating the film from their point of view has provoked its fair share of controversy. Pirated DVDs have made it possible for those in the slums who have their own experiences with the police to contribute heavily to the discussions surrounding Tropa de Elite.

It's been awhile since a Brazilian film has struck such a nerve. Universal may not be getting any direct profits from the pirated DVDs but they've benefited immeasurably from the endless media attention that has been given to Tropa de Elite. How many films have become blockbusters before they're even released?