Pixote

“During a routine police sweep of the squalid streets of Sao Paulo, Pixote, an abandoned 10-year-old boy, the effeminate Lilica and another youth are taken to a detention centre. The three boys escape, aided by Lilica’s lover, and get involved with a homosexual drug dealer and an aging alcoholic prostitute. The performances by actual street kids are horrifyingly natural.” Babenco’s film was one of the first to address the problem of Rio de Janeiro’s street kids, and with the combination of stark street images and symbolic imagery, the film plays out as a hallucinatory nightmare. A startling critique of third world conditions and societal indifference to the plight of individuals, in particular children, forced to live in appalling conditions. A child’s life crushed by economic depression, and an astounding performance from Fernando Ramos da Silva, make ‘Pixote’ an emotionally gut-wrenching film. Reference: Holt Foreign Film Guide.

Credits: Producer, Paulo Francini, Jose Pinto ; director, Hector Babenco ; writer, Hector Babenco, Jorge Duran ; photography, Rodolfo Sanches ; music, John Neschling ; editing, Luiz Elias.
Cast: Fernando Ramos da Silva, Jorge Juliao, Gilberto Moura, Marilia Pera, Jose Nilson dos Santos, Elke Maravilha, Jardel Filho.