PIXOTE   1981
Directed by Hector Babenco
128 minutes
In Portuguese with English subtitles

One of the most unforgettable films back in the 80s was this hard-hitting gem from Brazil. It takes us through the wild streets of Sao Paulo, deep inside the world of a ten year old boy who struggles to survive in a world of brutally terrible conditions. As a homeless runaway he makes friends with transvestites and prostitutes who are all openly attacked by the corrupt local police. The film takes no prisoners, and drags us down into the darkest subterranean streets of Brazil where there seems to be no escape. All friendships are temporary, and none of the characters expect to live much past their teenage years.

Directed with feisty flair by Hector Babenco (Kiss of the Spider Woman), in some ways it reflects the cine quinqui delinquent film movement in Spain during the same period. Especially in the sense that the main role of Pixote is played by a kid who was actually taken off the streets, and after finishing the movie he went back to a life of crime. He would later die at age nineteen in a shoot-out with the cops. Harsh, yes, but also with piercing poetry at certain moments, a poetry made even more acute and bright by the dark dog-eat-dog world our characters live in.

Although it has been badly neglected for the last twenty years, it remains one of the classics of cinema. This is the kind of movie that people like Martin Scorsese raves about, films made with no money and no stars— but he himself doesn't learn from his own lessons... instead he keeps making huge-budgeted, CGI-driven sensationalistic products with the most expensive stars in the business. Let's put his hypocrisy aside though, and go back to experience the magic of movies like this.

This will be a high-definition screening.