It is probably a coincidence that Hector Babenco, the Brazilian director who made a great film set largely in a prison (“Kiss of the Spider Woman”), has now returned to prison.
His new movie is “Carandiru,” named after a notorious hellhole in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Built to house 3,000 inmates, the place had more than 7,500 residents by 1992, the year of a chaotic prison riot in which 111 inmates were killed by police.
This event forms the climax of “Carandiru.” Before that, we witness conditions in the prison through the eyes of a new doctor, Drauzio Varella, played by Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos.
Varella is a real person, who spent 12 years as the physician at Carandiru and wrote a best-selling book based on his experiences. (He is also the doctor of Hector Babenco, who, while battling a life-threatening illness, became fascinated by Varella’s stories of prison life.)
The film opens with an episode that suggests how far the prison has gone out of the control of the authorities. Officials are content to let inmates, who have their own system of justice and methods of negotiation, defuse a death threat.
From there, the movie becomes a patchwork of different characters, some more compelling than others. One thread is the presence of AIDS, about which the doctor battles to educate the prisoners, and the presence of sexuality within the prison.
There are flashbacks, often to the crimes that got the prisoners sent away. Some of these are absurd or random, some the work of sociopaths.
What ties it all together is the squalid prison. However, some inmates have created a satisfying sort of life, decorating their cells and living beyond the supervision of the guards.
As this does not sound like a pleasant movie to watch, I should say that “Carandiru” is surprisingly entertaining (if a little long at 148 minutes). Babenco still has the gift for making scenes come to life, and for casting actors with memorable faces.
He’s also fueled by social outrage. If you caught the documentary “Bus 174” earlier this year, about an ex-con who went berserk and held a bus hostage, you will remember the dismal portrait of Brazil’s prisons. When “Carandiru” was released, it hit a nerve and became the biggest-grossing homegrown movie in Brazil box-office history.
Finally, Babenco has a great star: the prison. He shot the movie in the real Carandiru, which had been emptied out before being demolished in 2002. It has a horrible authenticity no film set could fake.
“Carandiru” HHH
Grimly entertaining: The inside of a notoriously squalid Sao Paulo, Brazil, prison, seen through the eyes of a doctor on staff, is a dismal subject, but director Hector Babenco makes the story come alive. (In Portuguese, with English subtitles.)
Rated: R rating is for violence, subject matter.
Now showing: Varsity.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
