Directed by Héctor Babenco • 1981 • Brazil
Starring Fernando Ramos da Silva, Jorge Julião, Gilberto Moura
With its bracing blend of unflinching realism and aching humanity, Héctor Babenco's electrifying look at lost youth fighting to survive on the bottom rung of Brazilian society helped put the country's cinema on the international map. Shot with documentary-like immediacy on the streets of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, PIXOTE follows the eponymous preteen runaway (the heartbreaking Fernando Ramos da Silva, whose own too-short life tragically mirrored that of his character) as he escapes a nightmarish juvenile detention center only to descend into a life of increasingly violent crime alongside a makeshift family of fellow outcasts. Balancing its shocking brutality with moments of tenderness, this stunning journey through Brazil's underworld is an unforgettable cry from the lower depths that has influenced multiple generations of filmmakers, including Spike Lee, Harmony Korine, and the Safdie brothers.
Up Next in Directed by Héctor Babenco
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Lúcio Flávio
Directed by Héctor Babenco • 1977 • Brazil
Starring Reginaldo Faria, Ana Maria Magalhães, Paulo César PeréioAn enormous box-office success in Brazil, Héctor Babenco’s second feature electrified audiences with its gritty, gut-punching evocation of a corrupt world where the line between criminals...
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Kiss of the Spider Woman
Directed by Héctor Babenco • 1985 • United States, Brazil
Starring William Hurt, Raúl Juliá, Sônia BragaHéctor Babenco’s follow-up to his electrifying international breakthrough PIXOTE is another powerful, boldly realized portrait of life on the margins of Brazilian society. Based on the novel ...
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King of the Night
Directed by Héctor Babenco • 1975 • Brazil
Starring Paulo José, Marília Pêra, Vic MilitelloHéctor Babenco’s first feature traces the descent of Tertuliano (Paulo José), a once-promising aspiring lawyer, into a life of decadence and amorality on the bohemian fringes of São Paulo as he falls into...
