Pixote
This is the life of Pixote, a young rascal in the streets of São Paulo. He quickly becomes acquainted with a harsh world filled with crime, prostitution and drugs.
After one of the many raids in his neighborhood, Pixote ends up in a disciplinary house, where children are hardened by things they only half understand. Once free, he resumes the life that is known to him, namely: pickpocketing, dealing drugs, pimping and robbing customers. He is, as are many others, "fathered by strangers, abandoned by their mothers, thrown away by society," as Roger Ebert once wrote.
Yes, the life of Pixote takes place in the quarters of hell, to be precise the neighborhood called "boca do lixo" ("garbage mouth"). And yet, with a distinctly documentary style clearly inspired by the Italian neo-realists, this film is also a joyful celebration of human existence. Joy, warmth and affection are defense mechanisms for parentless and nihilistic lives. Both sides are covered in this film by Héctor Babenco, a seduction game in a way: as soon as the viewer is successfully lured, he or she is brutally repelled.