THIS film is the real deal. In a lot of ways, it’s the ultimate vision of hell. Right from the start, you feel that you’re there in these slums. You can feel the poverty, you can sense the hopelessness, you can see the decadence and debauchery, you can nearly smell the sweat of desperation from these characters. It’s such a hellish, intense, cruel landscape that your gut reaction is to write the film off as another examination of terrible street life. There’s so much more going on here, however, and the film takes a real brave approach at getting really involved in what’s going on mentally as well as from a distance. What struck me immediately, first of all, was how communicative this group of street kids are. They have mastered the art of self-confinement and survival and as a result we can understand whatever progress they make, despite how little they actually get done. These are children that have achieved a sense of personal productivity, and so it’s less about being financially sound and more about surviving each day through whatever means necessary. Hygiene, fulfillment, sexuality, and structure are all completely meaningless to them. They clean themselves only when necessary, they sleep and eat only whenever they feel like it, they think nothing of two of their own being gay lovers, and time only represents a means of knowing when the coast is clear.

This portrait of street life is like no other film I have seen, and several characters end up getting killed unexpectedly in incredibly horrible ways. It’s a desperate film about desperate street kids who have been forced to adapt to their way of life, despite the risks of violence, disease, police imprisonment, and betrayal. What makes it all work is the lead performance by Fernando Ramos da Silva, who was sadly murdered by police in 1987. The boy led a similar existence to the life of his character in Pixote, and you can see it in his face. He represents a sense of disembodied innocence and charisma that is startling and heartbreaking. People may not realize this, but he really is what is key to the success of the film. Pixote is a representation of what many Brazilian slum kids feel on a day to day basis, which is the desperate need and wanting to have a home and to be safe and happy and loved by someone. He is the figure that is visually telling them that they are not alone. He is, in a lot of ways, the John Wayne of Brazilian cinema. He is brave, charming, full of presence and life, fearless action, fearless emotion, and fearless innocence. He doesn’t have the face of a child, he has the face of an outlaw. He is a notably damaged and unhappy child, but though he may look jaded in his face, he is certainly not jaded in his eyes, which are full of simple expression.

I think, in addition to him and his performance, the atmosphere of the film really adds to the success. Much of the film is shot with natural lighting and the camerawork uses a hell of a lot of zooms, panning shots, close-ups, and angled tilts, lending to a real documentary type of feel to the film. None of the actors are really actors, but rather actual street children, and you can totally tell. When acts of murder, rape, theft, and assault are committed they often feel all too genuine in their often confusing desperation, but the intensity of the film comes from the threat of such things rather than the acts themselves. Add to that a simple musical score that has the feel of stock documentary music found in an old library and you have a film that is as real as a film about Brazilian slum life can be without it being a documentary. It is a chilling and amazing film that blows my mind every time I watch it. Pixote is a must-see film for anyone who has a serious passion for cinema and for human life.