Synopsis
When a doctor decides to carry out an AIDS prevention program inside Latin America’s largest prison: the Casa de Detenção de São Paulo - Carandiru, he meets the future victims of one of the darkest days in Brazilian History when the State of São Paulo’s Military Police, with the excuse for law enforcement, shot to death 111 people. Based on real facts and on the book written by Dráuzio Varella.
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Cast
- Luiz Carlos VasconcelosDoutor (Physician)
- Milton GonçalvesChico
- Ivan de AlmeidaNego Preto (Ebony)
- Aílton GraçaMajestade (Majesty)
- Maria Luísa MendonçaDalva
- Aida LeinerRosirene
- Rodrigo SantoroLady Di
- Gero CamiloSem Chance (No Way)
- Lázaro RamosEzequiel
- Caio BlatDeusdete
Recommendations
- 80
L.A. Weekly
Babenco's kindly, concerned eye seeks out the humanity in even the worst of his characters, and by the time he re-creates the massacre, with shocking power and force, one has been equally captivated and appalled at the world he shows. The result is one of the richest prison movies in years. - 80
The New York Times
Exudes a throbbing flesh-and-blood intensity so compelling that it's impossible to avert your eyes. - 80
Los Angeles Times
Carandiru is Babenco's fourth film set inside some type of incarceration facility and meshes his documentary style and fondness for realism with the escapism of storytelling found in "Kiss of the Spider Woman." It plunges us deep inside a corrupt system and its sincere empathy creates a stirring mix of emotions. - 75
Entertainment Weekly
Lays on the compassion a little thick, yet its heartfelt squalor stays with you. - 75
USA Today
The warden implores the prisoners to relinquish their weapons, and out of the cells come flying a zillion blades of all sizes. In a Mel Brooks movie, this bit would be funny. Here, it sums up the chilling situation in five seconds. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
The movie observes and dramatizes, yet seeks no overriding social moral. - 60
Film Threat
A large, magnificent cast brings this story vividly to life, supported by superb art direction and technical contributions. Capped by Babenco's vigorous, often ferocious direction, the film is a towering achievement, offering an unforgettable portrayal of the lives and plight of the forgotten. - 60
Variety
A low-structure, high-involvement Brazilian free-for-all destined to take its place among hellish prison films, Carandiru plants a fist in the viewer's stomach.
