Carandiru

Carandiru is a a very good film. I think it is not the best Babenco's movie (e.g. not so good as Pixote) but yet it is one of the best film I have seen during this last year.

In the first place, it should be remarked that it needs a lot of courage to put on screen the beautiful and crude Varella´s book on the day-by-day of prisoners of the Sao Paulo jail Carandiru (once the biggest jail on Brazil, now demolished). In particular the movie shows one the the darkest pages in the recent Brazilian history, namely, the massacre occurred in that jail in October 1992: during a rebellion, the police invaded the prison and killed summarily 111 prisoners. Not a single policeman was even injured during the action.

In order to understand the movie, I think is very important to stress how deep has been the relevance of this sad and cruel event in the slow evolution of the Brazilian society towards less barbarian standards. At the time of the massacre most of the elites, media and middle class supported the police action and only ten years later, in 2001, some of the authors of the massacre has been put on trial. In other words the Carandiru tragic facts of 1992 and the way they have been so differently evaluated here during these years, reveals in a tragic fashion one of the most explosive contradiction of the present Brazilian society, in which a large majority of the Brazilians is completely excluded and plundered.

The movie of Babenco show this clearly and powerfully. Babenco used different kind of approaches. Most of the time the tone of the movie is realistic even bordering a documentary, but there are scenes in which the movie becomes visionary.

I am not surprise that the film was not well accepted in the recent Cannes festival. Critics from the first world are not expected to know much about the actual situation of Brazil (euphemisticly speaking). The fact is that Brazil in the USA/Europe imaginary continues to be unfortunately the country of carnival, football and samba and dark crude point of view such as the one of Babenco tend to be considered as disturbing or worst boring. So, while in the preview session for the press in Cannes 2003 most of the comments were "too long", this nearly three hours movie is one most

seen of the year in Brazil.

One could easily get the wrong impression of the storyline here. Yes, it is based on the true-life massacre at the Brazilian prison in 1992 BUT that story is only shown in the last 30 minutes of this 145-miniute film.

The movie is really about the people who inhabited that prison back in that time. There are short profiles of numerous criminals, told through the eyes mainly of a doctor who is sent there. AIDs was a major problem in the jail. The doctor treats a lot of people who then tell him stories how they got to be inmates at Carandiru. In addition, there are bunch of scenes in which the inmates interact among themselves, shown as everything from antagonists to lovers.

Make no mistake: some of the stories are sordid, but its not as unpleasant to watch as one might think because the characters and the film-making are very interesting. The storyline moves fast, which is important considering the length of this film.

A viewer could even stop the movie at several points, pick up later without losing much since the story unfolds in segments. The ending (the massacre) really comes on suddenly. Unlike most movies,the story doesn't build up to the climax, here it just appears out of nowhere.

The same director who did the more-famous "City of God" filmed this and many critics here say it's not in the same league, but I thought it was at least in the same ballpark Both are entertaining, and most of us watch films to be entertained. So, if you liked ""City Of God," give this one a look as well.

'Carandiru' is a mess, not just the blood flowing over the steps of the infamous São Paulo prison that was razed after a prisoner riot and slaughter in 1992. In 145 minutes, Hector Babenco ('Pixote,' 'Kiss of the Spider Woman') has too many episodes about different inmates that only tangentially and sometimes superficially relate to the central subject of AIDS prevention; frequently they are standard flashbacks to what the prisoners did to merit incarceration. A secondary and successful purpose is to reveal a highly structured prisoner society where justice is swift and not always wrong, where the only mistake is to give in to the civilian authority, at which point any freedoms are lost. Despite the crowded and unsanitary conditions, inmates are usually safer and healthier inside rather than out. The story is told mainly from a prison doctor's point of view as he interviews the inmates for AIDS screening and hears about their lives. Although he is way too happy in his work, he represents a humanistic attitude lacking in the prison officials and the world outside. Homosexuality, while appropriate for any prison tale, seems to dominate the entire long movie (145 minutes) and throw into relief the director/ writer's interest in the subject that began at least in 'Kiss.' One of the most affecting scenes is the marriage of a devoted, physically mismatched couple and the subsequent attempt by the smaller 'husband' to protect his bride. Babenco and the actors manage to relay dignity and gravity in a situation that could be laughable if not at least clichéd. Babenco was inspired to write this screenplay by a doctor who saved his life, a doctor who wrote about his experiences in this prison in 'Carandiru Station.' Although HBO's 'Oz' prison series was more insightful, no account could be as loving and socially concerned. Famous prisoner Oscar Wilde wrote in 'De Profundis,' 'A day in prison on which one does not weep is a day on which one's heart is hard, not a day on which one's heart is happy.' Babenco caught the hard sadness of prison life in 'Carandiru.'

Let's get things straight here, if you were drawn to this film due its comparisons to the equally magnificent City of God, you're going to be surprised. Aside from the fact that its a Brazilian film about criminals, there are few similarities. While City of God was an epic story of life in the slums of Rio De Janeiro, Carandiru is about much older criminals and the days leading up to the infamous Carandiru prison massacre.

However, this is not the non-stop assault on the senses of grim violence you might expect. In fact, only the last twenty minutes or so of the film deal with the massacre at all and the film instead concentrates on a much more human aspect to the carnage. Focusing on the character of the Doctor as he tries to raise awareness of AIDs in the prison, it revolves around his day to day life as he chats casually with the inmates, learning of their hopes, fears and more often than not, their reason for being in the prison in the first place. These are stories that range from sad, to touching to outright hilarity and you soon find yourself absorbed in this world of offbeat criminals, so much so that when the violence does erupt, it is all the more shocking for it.

There are differences to the normal, US prison drama as well. I'm not sure how the Brazilians run their penitentiaries, but here there are no uniforms and they are allowed many of the comforts of home, along with free reign of the prison yard. But these are still drab conditions, with multiple inmates crammed into a single room, sweltering in the intense heat of the tropical summer. And ultimately, the prison is a community, made of genuine individuals, rather than clear cut prison stereotypes. This is a masterful film, one of my top movies of all time.

'Carandiru' is a film based on the real experiences of Dr Drauzio Varella. He worked in Carandiru prison in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in the late 80s/early 90s carrying out Aids prevention work. During his work he came to know a lot of the inmates closely, and as he was a doctor got to see prison life in a way the other prison workers didn't. He made friends with a lot of the inmates, and learned a lot of their personal stories. The prison is extremely cramped, and the situation came to a climax in 1992. One entire block of the prison fell under prisoner control and a riot squad was sent in, killing 111 men.

The film is being dubbed by some as "this year's City of God", but it's very different to last years Brazillian smash. Where 'City of God' had some very flashy direction and MTV-ized zip-bang editing, 'Carandiru' is pretty straight forward. The film still has some great direction though, Hector Babenco has a leisurely style (matched by his actual output, it's been 7 years since his last film, and nearly 20 since 'Ironweed'), allowing the story the space it needs to breathe but still picking up the pace to build tension. Ironically the only section of the film I didn't really like was the bit that was the most 'City of God'-like. When the doctor is dealing with his patients he asks each one what their story is, and sometimes it's a bit forced, just like in 'City of God' with the "now it's my turn to tell you my story".

Where it's very similar to 'City of God' is it's themes - it's essentially a humanist comedy with a moral edge, dealing with love, hate, revenge, innocence and betrayal. The cons are poor and murderous, but lovable at the same time. If this film and 'City of God' are to believed drug-dealing thieving murderers all have their hearts in the right place and are all okay guys who just took a wrong turn on the road.

There's a bit of a stink being kicked up at the moment on the imdb forum for 'Carandiru'. A lot of Brazillian's are posting, very upset with filmmakers consistently showing Brazil in a negative light. I think that although both films do have that slant to them, they have actually increased interested in the country, and even more so the countries film output, taking it to a global audience. If all Scottish films are to be believed we're all a bunch of Glasweigan Gangster Hardnuts or heroin-addicted thieving murderers too, so I fail to see what the fuss is about.

The director drives home the real point of the film in the last 20 minutes. The overcrowding and in-fighting finally erupts into a full-blown riot that results in the main characters block being taken over by the prisoners. A riot squad enters, and the ensuing rampage is one of the most graphic and genuinely shocking ever committed to film. Definitely not for the faint-of-heart. I remember seeing the prison riot being reported in the UK news, and being appalled at how crowded the prison was, and how a government could let it reach boiling point like that. The last 20 minutes really smacked that home, but with the closing shots of the prison finally being demolished in 2002 you feel like there was at least some sort of closure on the tragedy.

The story is harrowing, but heart-warming, and the acting (mostly from unknowns) is top rate. It's my favorite film of the year so far, but do beware the last 20 minutes, you won't leave the cinema feeling happy.