Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

danieljfenner At the time of Pixote's production in 1980-1981, over half of the cast of "City Of God" wasn't even an idea or even a twinkle in their father's eyes. Over two decades before the release of Fernando Meirelles' ultra-violent crime saga depicting feral youth growing up too fast in Rio, "Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco" set the bar as high as Christ the Redeemer overlooks the city in terms of capturing an accurate reality of the brutal favela life. This hyper-realist, Oliver Twist-by-way-of-Larry Clark account of wayward Brazilian youth still by today's standards provides stark, grim and shocking imagery. Regardless of the generational gap, what truly separates "Pixote" from "City of God" is that it didn't need to use highly stylized violence to compel the viewer. It relied more on the realism and hopelessness of the characters, the blunt sexuality, and a much more punctual yet effective treatment on street violence and state power. In the beginning of the film, (and not every version may feature this) director Hector Babenco (who went on to direct some mainstream American films such as "Kiss of The Spider Woman" and "Ironweed") makes a brief fourth wall breaking announcement of his intentions to depict the daily life of a child in the urban landscape of Sao Paolo. Within this prologue, he reveals the lead protagonist, Fernando Ramos da Silva as himself in his natural habitat.As the child on child violence in City of God seems sensational, when one of these children in Pixote does commit a heinous act, you see the innocence being chipped away frame by frame. Unlike the murderous, maniacal Lil Ze from Ciudad de Deus - who seems to attribute his penchant for crime to something inexplicably innate and evil inside him - Pixote and his cohorts start off as confused, troubled innocent kids who escape their prison-like orphanage and enter the crime world out of survival. In other words, Pixote strives to capture the root causes of youth delinquency, and puts it into a much more constructive context. As far as structure, Pixote is very much like Full Metal Jacket (although it came out five years before, I'm aware). It's split into two parts. The first is the children's experiences in a youth detention center, where they witness and unsuccessfully dodge sexual assault and corruption. This first act could serve as the basic training, complete with the vulnerabilities, the bonding and the resistance soon to follow as seen in Full Metal Jacket. Once a brave select group manages to escape after one of their fellow boarders mysteriously disappears, the four adolescents flee to Rio De Janeiro. Act two is the struggle and eventual dissolution of the four youngsters as they experience complications from drug trafficking, pickpocketing and prostitution in Rio, which offers some beautiful and gritty establishing shots of the city at night. These sequences are parallel to the urban warfare, sniper-dodging chaotic second act of Full Metal Jacket. There is one particular moving scene on the beach when the youngsters share their aspirations within their delusions of freedom and future success. It's just so inspiring yet depressing to see how much hope these kids still have after everything they have gone through. And their situations only gets worse. What makes Pixote even more ahead of its time is how it treats the theme of sexual identity so sensitively. In an incredibly powerful performance, Jorge Juliao, who portrays the gender dysphoric Lilica provides depth to the character. Lilica takes on a maternal role towards Pixote, as she is several years elder than the titular protagonist. This film demonstrates the ability of humans to overcome their differences in the name of survival and trust. There is genuinely a familial bond between the characters, but their dynamics are not restricted. In a time and place where LGBT representations in media would have been taboo, Lilica brings about a character that is far more multi-dimensional than anything US cinema has attempted to do up to that point. Juliao manages to balance the nurturing with the self destructive aspects of her character without slipping into the "hysterical gay" stereotype. Last but not least, the second half also displays the development of the runaways' relationship with Sueli, an aging yet destructively young at heart sex worker, brilliantly portrayed by Marilia Pera. The climax unravels as these kids move in with Sueli. They take on a pimp role and subsequently use her to bait clients that they can rob. As criminal amateurs, they must deal with their own priorities and their complex emotions come into play as they each search for a role within Sueli that she may not be able to provide for them due to her own insecurities. While it is certainly fair to debate if this is art or exploitation, in short, we could conclude that Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco, is provocative and disturbing but necessary and politically resonant. When Larry Clark's "Kids" was released in 1995, it was critically summed up by Janet Maslin as "a wake up call to the modern world." Well if Kids was a wake-up call, then Pixote was the equivalent of your car alarm going off in the middle of the night...and it's parked a block away.

buzios 'Pixote - A Lei do Mais Fraco' was made in 1981 but the subject matter is just as relevant today. 'Pixote...' (pronounced peeshot) is very well known in Brazil but unfortunately less known elsewhere. I had heard of the film some time ago but when I finally saw it I was overwhelmed.The film is directed by Hector Babenco, probably best known to English speaking audiences for 'Kiss of the Spider Woman' which was far from his best work (i.e this). The subtitle of the film literally means 'the law of the weakest' and here Babenco presents us with a harrowing and all too realistic portrayal of the life of a Brazilian street child. Pixote (Fernando Ramos Da Silva) is a 10 year old boy who is taken from the streets of Sao Paulo by the police along with a group of other boys. A judge has been murdered and the street children are always picked up as suspects. However, Brazilian law states that nobody under 18 can be tried as an adult so those accused are simply thrown into reformatories as punishment without trial.The hell that is the reformatory forces Pixote to become tougher just to survive. On his first night he witnesses the rape of another boy. His hair is shaved off and he smokes dope for solace with his friend Fumaca. In the reformatory the boys watch violent TV shows and act out planned robberies. Another boy, the homosexual Lilica, is accused of the judge's murder but refuses to admit to a crime he did not commit. A group of the boys are forced to attend a staged identification parade and Fumaca is accused of the murder. Fumaca is returned to the dormitory later having been so badly beaten that he dies of his injuries. His body is dumped on a rubbish tip. The police then blame Fumaca's murder on another boy who is also beaten to death. This boy was Lilica's lover and in his despair and anger Lilica leads a rebellion and the dormitory is set on fire. Lilica is then accused of his lover's murder and attempts to kill himself by cutting his wrists.Lilica, Pixote and two other boys, Dito and Chico, then escape from the reformatory and return to the streets and to petty crime. They soon become involved in selling cocaine. Lilica and Dito fall in love. The group then take the train to Rio to visit drug dealer Debora who double crosses them and refuses to pay what they are owed. Pixote and Chico later meet Debora by chance and in the resulting fracas Chico is killed and Pixote fatally stabs Debora. The 3 remaining boys then meet up with a prostitute called Sueli and pimp for her so that they can then rob her customers. Dito and Sueli grow close and Pixote treats Sueli as a mother figure. Lilica becomes jealous and leaves. In a clumsily bungled robbery attempt Pixote murders one of Sueli's customers.The film is more about the relationships between the boys and the suffering they go through than it is about crime and violence. However, Babenco does not spare his audience any of the grim reality of their lives. Nothing is glamorised. The drugs scenes and violence are very real. The boys are not portrayed as heroes, just sad survivors. Pixote is not bad , just someone trying to survive through daily doses of death and horror. The police are corrupt and evil. The drug dealers and prostitutes are deceitful and vicious. Ultimately though, what makes this film truly great is Babenco's gritty direction. There's no fancy camera angles or atmospheric music. Everything is left to the actors who are filmed in a chilling matter-of-fact style which makes you feel almost as if you were there watching the horror of the boys lives first hand.The acting is astounding, particularly when you consider that many of the cast had no previous acting experience. All of the child actors in Pixote are from Brazil's streets, coaxed into the film by Babenco in order to call attention to their living conditions. Jorge Juliao as Lilica is excellent and plays the part with a sensitivity that makes it clear that he just wants to be loved no matter how he does it. And as for Fernando Ramos Da Silva as Pixote, with his sad eyed, distant resilience, you could not expect more from a child actor playing such a demanding and gruelling part. You feel that Da Silva actually 'is' Pixote and he may well have been. What makes Da Silva's portrayal of Pixote even more poignant to me is that after completing the film he went on to sink back into poverty and crime, and at age 19 was shot dead by police who claimed he was involved in a robbery. His life became the subject of the 1996 film 'Who Killed Pixote?', which showed that despite the outcry created by Pixote, Brazil had done little to alleviate the conditions portrayed.In summary, this film is a magnificent and moving study of the dark and dangerous lives of Brazil's street children. However, if you are easily upset or shocked then give it a miss. There are painfully realistic portrayals of violence and drug abuse. There are also scenes of a strong sexual nature. But to me what was hardest to stomach was the suffering and abuse that these children endured. Nobody deserves this sort of life. Furthermore, I know that this really goes on in Brazil (and to be fair, probably many other countries) and that is one of the sadnesses of this otherwise beautiful country. Still, this film is not really about Brazil. It is about poverty, resilience, desperation, the search for love, and man's inhumanity to man (or in this case child).I cannot recommend this film highly enough - but be prepared for an uncomfortable ride and don't let the kids watch.

runamokprods A deeply disturbing and heartbreaking neo-realist film, about an abandoned, unwanted 10 year old living first in a reformatory, and then on Brazil's mean streets. The performances Babenco gets from his non-professional cast are amazing, especially his tiny young lead. The film almost totally avoids the twin traps of false sentimentality (although it's got plenty of emotion), or needless flashiness. It occasionally feels aimless, but somehow, in the end, it always adds up. Probably the weakest, most problematic moment is the opening, where the 'director' (Babenco, or an actor?) tells us that these actors are real people, gives us some facts and figures about them, and tells that their lives are much like those shown in the film. It then took me the next few minutes to forget about that, and get involved with the characters, and not get all caught up in pondering the artistic complexities of 'real people' playing a dramatic variation on their lives. The film doesn't need that kind of blunt framing device.So perhaps I don't consider this terrific, important film a 'perfect' masterpiece as so many do - but I deeply admire it and respect it, would encourage everyone to see it (though you doubtless find the experience upsetting) and look forward to seeing it a third time. You will never be able to look at a poor kid on the street quite the same way again.

tedg Is it enough that a film seem "real?"That's the pitch here, and in so many films. This one even starts with the filmmaker speaking to us before the film proper, telling us about the horrible situation and literally showing us the lead child actor in his "regular" life of squalor. We know also from the publicity that the other children are "real," though presumably all of the adults are actors. This film is set up to impress on this score. The situations are brutal and fully believable. The kids are effective. The scenes seem genuine.But its just bad film, bad drama, bad storytelling except for two bits — unless you count the value of realism. That's because it has no narrative structure. Yes, we see the child harden, and why, but is that enough? Not for me. It takes more than the real to make a story, I think.I will recommend two scenes to you. They both feature Marília Pêra, who we saw as effective in "Central Station." She plays a prostitute who enlists the children to mug her johns. One scene has her after a successful heist in the woods with the children, seducing the oldest, who we know is in a relationship with one of the boys. This scene works amazingly well, lighted by the headlights of the stolen car, animated by her dancing body. The words tell us that she was a sexy go-go dancer who was fired, but the motions tell us that and so much more. Later, when they get back to her place and we see the two making love with the other children watching on the bed, she captures another mark. Wheels turn and tragedy strikes, setting up the penultimate scene which may be one of the most memorable in cinema.People are dead, and the whore and child are left on the bed. Her legs are askew displaying her crotch to us and the child. They are reaching to each other, he simply staring and she filling the room with loneliness. The camera focus changes from his blank face to her vagina, which we have seen her use seductively before — in fact in every case. She approaches the boy.He in turn is drawn to her breast which he cuddles to and suckles which she accepts. But over a few moments you can see her confusion breaking her. A life of sexual twisting is visited on that contact and she breaks. The camera decides to show the boy, now lost in the last scene that follows. But it is the woman whose loss we know.These two scenes demonstrate how much greater reality a talented actress can give us, more surely than the real thing.See it for those two scenes.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.