Pixote
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| Pixote | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical Poster |
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| Directed by | Hector Babenco |
| Produced by | Executive Producer: Sylvia B. Naves Producers: Hector Babenco Paulo Francini Jose Pinto |
| Written by | Hector Babenco Jorge Durán Story: José Louzeiro |
| Starring | Fernando Ramos Da Silva Jorge Julião Gilberto Moura Edilson Lino |
| Music by | John Neschling |
| Cinematography | Rodolfo Sánchez |
| Editing by | Luiz Elias |
| Release date(s) |  United States May 5, 1981 |
| Running time | 128 minutes |
| Country |  Brazil |
| Language | Portuguese |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco (English: Pixote: The Law of the Weakest), is a Brazilian drama film directed by Hector Babenco, and released in 1981.
The screenplay was written by Babenco and Jorge Durán, based on the book A Infancia dos Mortos by José Louzeiro.[1]
It is the chilling, documentary-like account of Brazil's deliquent youth and how they are used by corrupt police and other crime organizations to commit crimes.
The film stars Fernando Ramos Da Silva (who was tragically murdered at the age of 19 by Brazilian police in São Paulo) as Pixote and Marília Pêra as Sueli.
The plot revolves around Pixote, a young boy who is used as a child criminal in muggings and drug transport.
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[edit] Plot
After a police round up of street children Pixote is sent to a children reformatory (FEBEM). The prision is a hellish school were Pixote uses the sniffing of glue as a means of emotional escape and the constant threats of abuse and rape.
It soon becomes clear that the young criminals are only pawns in the criminal, sadistic games of the prison guards and their commander.
When a boy dies of physical abuse by the guards, they frame the lover of the transgender girl Lilica (Jorge Julião), a homosexual inmate, for the murder, who then conveniently also dies, with some help by the guards.
Soon after, Pixote, Lilica, and his Dito use an opportunity to flee from the prison. First they stay at the apartment of Cristal (Tony Tornado), a former lover of Lilica, but when tensions arise they go to Rio for a cocaine drug deal, but there they get duped by a showgirl.
After some time bumming around the city, Pixote and his friend go to a club for another drug deal. While there, Pixote finds the showgirl that took their drugs and stabs her.
They become pimps for the prostitute Sueli who is definitely past her prime. The group conspires to rob her johns, but that scheme fails when an American john fights back (because he apparently does not understand Portuguese) so they have to shoot him.
Later, Pixote, after being rejected by the mother figure of Sueli, is seen walking down a railway line, gun in hand, away from the camera, his figure disappearing in the distance, out of the film's view.
[edit] Exhibition
The film was first presented at the New York New Directors/New Films Festival on May 5, 1981. Later it opened on a limited basis in the United States on September 11, 1981.
The film was shown at various film festivals, including: the Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival, Spain; the Toronto Film Festival, Canada; the Locarno International Film Festival, Spain; and others.
[edit] Background
Casting
The movie is shot in documentary fashion and strongly influenced by Italian neo-realism in that amateur actors were used whose real lives strongly resembled those of the protagonists in the film.
Filming locations
It was filmed in crime-ridden locations in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The film also features several beautiful scenes of Rio's beaches.
[edit] Critical reception
The picture was well received by film critics and at the film festivals it was shown.
Film critic Roger Ebert, who writes for the Chicago Sun Times considers the film a classic. He said, "Pixote stands alone in [Babenco's] work, a rough, unblinking look at lives no human being should be required to lead. And the eyes of Fernando Ramos da Silva, his doomed young actor, regard us from the screen not in hurt, not in accusation, not in regret -- but simply in acceptance of a desolate daily reality."[2]
Critic Pauline Kael was impressed by its raw, documentary-like quality, and a certain poetic realism. She said, "Babenco's imagery is realistic, but his point of view is shockingly lyrical. South American writers, such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, seem to be in perfect, poetic control of madness, and Babenco has some of this gift, too. South American artists have to have it, in order to express the texture of everyday insanity."[3]
[edit] Cast and ratings
| Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Australia: | R (after appeal) |
| Finland: | K-18 |
| France: | 12 |
| Iceland: | 16 |
| Norway: | 18 |
| United Kingdom: | 18 |
| United States: | R |
- Fernando Ramos Da Silva as Pixote
- Jorge Julião as Lilica
- Gilberto Moura as Dito
- Edilson Lino as Chico
- Zenildo Oliveira Santos as Fumaça
- Claudio Bernardo as Garatao
- Israel Feres David as Roberto Pie de Plata
- Jose Nilson Martin Dos Santos as Diego
- Marília Pêra as Sueli
- Jardel Filho as Sapatos Brancos
- Rubens de Falco as Juiz
- Elke Maravilha as Debora
- Tony Tornado as Cristal
- Beatriz Segall as Widower
- João José Pompeo as Almir
[edit] Awards
Wins
- Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival: OCIC Award - Honorable Mention; Hector Babenco; 1981.
- Locarno International Film Festival: Silver Leopard; Hector Babenco; 1981.
- Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards: LAFCA Award; Best Foreign Film; 1981.
- New York Film Critics Circle Awards: NYFCC Award; Best Foreign Language Film; 1981.
- Boston Society of Film Critics Awards: BSFC Award; Best Actress, Marília Pêra; Best Film; 1982.
- National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA: NSFC Award Best Actress, Marília Pêra; 1982.
Nominations
- Golden Globes: Golden Globe, Best Foreign Film, Brazil; 1982.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Pixote at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. The Chicago Sun Times, film review, September 12, 2004.
- ^ Kael, Pauline. Pixote, Foreign Affairs: The National Society of Film Critics' Video Guide to Foreign Films, editor: Kathy Schulz Huffhines, Mercury House: San Francisco, 1991, page 498.
[edit] External links
 Cinema of Brazil |
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