Carandiru (2003)

Director:

Hector Babenco

Writers:

Hector Babenco (writer)
Fernando Bonassi (writer)

Release Date:

11 April 2003 (Brazil)

Genre:

Drama | Crime

Plot:

Film based on real life experiences of doctor Drauzio Varella inside dreadful State penitentiary Carandiru...

Plot Keywords:

Gay Interest | Prison Guard | Prison Life | Prison Sex | Brazil

Awards:

12 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos	...	Physician
Milton Gonçalves	...	Chico
Ivan de Almeida	...	Ebony
Ailton Graça	...	Majestade
Maria Luisa Mendonça	...	Dalva
Aida Leiner	...	Rosirene
Rodrigo Santoro	...	Lady Di
Rita Cadillac	...	Herself
Gero Camilo	...	No Way
Lázaro Ramos	...	Ezequiel
Caio Blat	...	Deusdete
Wagner Moura	...	Zico
Júlia Ianina	...	Francineide
Sabrina Greve	...	Catarina
Floriano Peixoto	...	Antônio Carlos

Also Known As:

Carandirú (Argentina)
Carandiru: O Filme (Brazil) (trailer title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody violence/carnage, language, sexuality and drug use.

Runtime:

France:148 min (Cannes Film Festival) | UK:146 min | Argentina:147 min | Canada:145 min (Ontario)

Country:

Argentina | Brazil

Language:

Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hungary:16 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | Germany:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:M18 | UK:15 | USA:R | Italy:T | Canada:18A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Carandiru Prision, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Company:

BR Petrobrás

Trivia:

The real Carandiru prison was demolished in 2002, it will be transformed into a park with arts facilities. One block (#2) was left intact to be used as a museum. The film was the last thing they used the prison before demolishing 90% of it.

Goofs:

One of the inmates is wearing a Brazilian national team football shirt with four stars, representing the four times that Brazil was FIFA world-champion (now it is five times, it won the fifth in the 2002 Japan-Korea World Cup). But the movie ends in the massacre of 1992, and Brazil won the fourth star only in 1994, in the US World Cup.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Dona da História (2004)

Babenco caught the hard sadness of prison life in 'Carandiru.'

'Carandiru' is a mess, not just the blood flowing over the steps of the infamous São Paulo prison that was razed after a prisoner riot and slaughter in 1992. In 145 minutes, Hector Babenco ('Pixote,' 'Kiss of the Spider Woman') has too many episodes about different inmates that only tangentially and sometimes superficially relate to the central subject of AIDS prevention; frequently they are standard flashbacks to what the prisoners did to merit incarceration. A secondary and successful purpose is to reveal a highly structured prisoner society where justice is swift and not always wrong, where the only mistake is to give in to the civilian authority, at which point any freedoms are lost. Despite the crowded and unsanitary conditions, inmates are usually safer and healthier inside rather than out. The story is told mainly from a prison doctor's point of view as he interviews the inmates for AIDS screening and hears about their lives. Although he is way too happy in his work, he represents a humanistic attitude lacking in the prison officials and the world outside. Homosexuality, while appropriate for any prison tale, seems to dominate the entire long movie (145 minutes) and throw into relief the director/ writer's interest in the subject that began at least in 'Kiss.' One of the most affecting scenes is the marriage of a devoted, physically mismatched couple and the subsequent attempt by the smaller 'husband' to protect his bride. Babenco and the actors manage to relay dignity and gravity in a situation that could be laughable if not at least clichéd. Babenco was inspired to write this screenplay by a doctor who saved his life, a doctor who wrote about his experiences in this prison in 'Carandiru Station.' Although HBO's 'Oz' prison series was more insightful, no account could be as loving and socially concerned. Famous prisoner Oscar Wilde wrote in 'De Profundis,' 'A day in prison on which one does not weep is a day on which one's heart is hard, not a day on which one's heart is happy.' Babenco caught the hard sadness of prison life in 'Carandiru.'