International Cinema

A detailed Summary of International Cinema

AN ANALYSIS OF HECTOR BABENCO'S FILM, PIXOTE

This film takes place in Brazil during the early eighties. At first appearance, Brazil seems to be a modern day paradise. Large and exotic beaches line the city where tourists flock all year round. Even the people, at first glance appear to be very cultural and rich in heritage. However, this only part of the picture. What you don't immediately see is the overwhelming number of delinquent children who have no home. There are approximately twenty-eight million children in Brazil and roughly three million of them are homeless. Also, half of them are under the age of twenty-one. Children under the age of twenty-one commit the majority of all crimes in Brazil. This is because here, the laws protect the children. Until they reach eighteen years of age, they cannot be convicted of a crime. In the film Pixote, by Hector Babenco, this issue is addressed. The everyday struggles of the children on the street portray a dark counter-culture o the beautiful scenery that surrounds them. The film depicts the lives of numerous adolescents who take part in drugs, rape, theft, murder and prostitution. Because of their age they seemingly go un-punished. I believe the director used the main character

Pixote has now become a full-grown thug at the approximate age of eleven. So, Pioxte has now established himself in this delinquent lifestyle. We are just starting to get used to this pint-sized murderer, when appearance and reality conflict again. Despite his age, Pixote is no longer a child. He hasn't been a child in years, if he ever was one. After he has just accidentally killed his best friend, Pixote becomes ill. He throws up all over himself. Maybe it is at this point that he realizes he is way past the point of no return. So, he makes a drastic gesture to try and recapture his childhood with the hooker he is pimping. The scene is probably the most confusing and disturbing. After Pixote vomits on himself, the hooker, who he is pimping and that has grown quite fond of him, takes him in her arms. She starts to cradle him in her arms as he crawls into a fetus position. She keeps on telling him that everything is going to be all right. At this point Pixote pulls down her blouse in a non-sexual gesture and starts to suck on her breast. The hooker has now taken the role of Pixote's mother, sister and lover. She lets the child suck on her breast for a couple of seconds. This scene maintains its innocence for only a few seconds. We are able to see both of these characters's vulnerabilities in this scene. The grown prostitute taking on the imagined reality of being a mother, if only for a brief moment. And the young pimp and murderer trying to regain his youth. So, for a brief second these two characters forget their realities and take on new roles until the hooker finally rejects Pixote and throws him away from her.

The film's beginning scenes are filled with examples of a false appearance with an underlying negative reality. The opening shot of the film shows a bunch of young kids almost mesmerized by the television. They are watching violent scenes from a police drama show. The next shot reveals numerous children in a police precinct. In the near background is a mother trying to tell an officer that her son is missing. However, the police officer is more concerned with talking on the phone. A little later a police truck arrives filled with even more young children of varied ages. It is at this point that one of the children states that the police are rounding up children to find someone to pin the blame on for the murder of an old man. The next scene shows an officer taking a roll call of all the children who have just stepped out of the van. Most of them claim that they have no parents or that they only have one parent and the other ran away and so on. So, it is established that all of these children come from broken homes, if they have any homes at all. Another example of false appearance has just taken place. The image of the desperate mother trying to tell the police officer that her son is missing is an attempt to show that there are concerned parents in this society. By focusing on the women's face it is supposed to show that there is hope for these children because someone is looking for them, to help them. This is not the real situation. However, the truth is displayed during the roll call when the children all state that they are either from brok

Some common words found in the essay are:
Hector Babenco, FILM PIXOTE, reform school, elder children, reform schools, outside reform school, pixote child, appearance reality, film pixote, outside reform, officer son missing, reform school walls, killed friend pixote, children broken homes, form temporary, suck breast, beaten death,

Approximate Word count = 2146
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies