Pixote Movie Review

Both 1981's Pixote by Hector Babenco and 1984's Streetwise by Martin Bell offer a harsh portrait of the lives led by street children. Both Streetwise and Pixote (a horrifying fictional saga of a 10-year-old murderer) raise disturbing questions for which neither film provides answers. Bell and Babenco attracted considerable reputations for their honesty in showing the toll of street hustling on the very young. The children are clearly no better off, and in the case of Pixote's young star, the doors to acting which were opened by his appearance in an international hit were quickly slammed. Young Fernando Ramos Da Silva eventually returned to the street life he shared with three million children in Sao Paulo. He was killed in a shootout with the police early in 1987. AKA: Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco.

1981 127m/C BR Fernando Ramos Da Silva, Marilia Pera, Jorge Juliao, Gilberto Moura, Jose Nilson dos Santos, Edilson Lino; D: Hector Babenco; W: Hector Babenco; C: Rodolfo Sanchez; M: John Neschling. Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards ‘81: Best Foreign Film; New York Film Critics Awards ‘81: Best Foreign Film; National Society of Film Critics Awards ‘81: Best Actress (Pera). VHS