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Mood:
- DisturbingRoughCaptivating
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Plot:
- Doctors and PatientsPrison LifeMind and SoulPower RelationsFighting the SystemSurvivalHuman NatureSociety
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Genres:
- DramaForeign
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Time/Period:
- 20th Century90s
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Place:
- BrazilPrison
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Praise:
- Award Winner
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Style:
- Episodic
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Based on:
- Based on BookBased on True Story
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Attitudes:
- SeriousRealisticSlow
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Flag:
- Drugs/AlcoholProfanitySexual ContentStrong Violent Content
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Carandiru, 2003
Portuguese
Brazil, Argentina
Profile of Carandiru
The mood of Carandiru is disturbing, captivating, and rough. The plot centers around prison life, doctors and patients, and power relations. It is a drama and foreign movie. Stylistically, Carandiru is episodic. In approach, it is serious and realistic. The pacing is slow. Carandiru takes place, at least partly, in a prison. The setting is Brazil. It happens in the 1990s. Carandiru is originally a true story and based on a book. The movie is known for being an award winner. Note that it includes strong violent content, drugs/alcohol, and sexual content.
Summary of Carandiru
Acclaimed Argentinean director Hector Babenco (KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, PIXOTE), blends pathos and black comedy in this adaptation of the autobiographical book CARANDIRU STATION by Dr. Drauzio Varella, who worked inside Sao Paulo's now-defunct Carandiru Prison. In 1992, overcrowded Carandiru gained international infamy when military police troops, called to quell a riot, killed 111 inmates. The Carandiru population contained murderers, drug dealers, and all manner of petty criminals--all guilty--but also driven to crime by Brazilian poverty. Dr. Varella, a renowned oncologist, arrived at Carandiru to help with AIDS prevention, but stayed and began to treat the inmates for everything from rat bites to rape, and in the process shared their life stories.
Director Babenco articulates the horror suffered by these men by recounting the darkly humorous stories of their families and personal lives, and then uses that empathy to show the terror of the police attack. After detailing the state-sponsored massacre, the film ends with the patriotic song "Aquarela do Brasil," providing one last emotional jab. Like his exploration of poverty and crime in previous films such as PIXOTE, Babenco creates a frenzied and emotionally weighted story, filmed on location in Carandiru Prison just before it closed. The film signifies the global need to improve social conditions and places a human face on the anonymous prison system.
Details
| Language: | Portuguese |
| Country: | Brazil, Argentina |
| Release date: | 16 January 2004 |
| Runtime: | 145 min |
Cast and Crew
as Physician
as Peixeira
Photos
Clips
Critics Reviews
Los Angeles Times
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- by: Kevin Crust
The New York Times
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- by: Stephen Holden
