Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco (1981)

Director:

Hector Babenco

Writers:

José Louzeiro (book) and
Hector Babenco (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

5 May 1982 (France)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Plot:

The life of a boy in the streets of Sao Paulo, involved with little crimes, prostitution, etc

Plot Keywords:

Runaway | Detention Center | 10 Year Old | Police | Escape

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 7 wins

Cast

Fernando Ramos da Silva	...	Pixote
Jorge Julião	...	Lilica
Gilberto Moura	...	Dito
Edilson Lino	...	Chico
Zenildo Oliveira Santos	...	Fumaça
Claudio Bernardo	...	Garatao
Israel Feres David	...	Roberto Pie de Plata
Jose Nilson Martin Dos Santos	...	Diego
Marília Pêra	...	Sueli
Jardel Filho	...	Sapatos Brancos
Rubens de Falco	...	Juiz
Elke Maravilha	...	Debora
Tony Tornado	...	Cristal
Beatriz Segall	...	Widower
João José Pompeo	...	Almir (as Joáo José Pompeu)
Rubens Rollo	...	Director (as Ruben Rollo)
Emilio Fontana	...	Dr. Delgado
Luiz Serra	...	Reporter
Ariclê Perez	...	Teacher
Joe Kantor	...	Gringo
Isadora de Farias	...	Psychologist
Beatriz Berg	...	Fumaça's mother
Walter Breda	...	Raulzinho
Raymundo Matos	...	Doctor
Benedito Corsi	...	Pixote's grandfather
Damaceno Pilho	...	Reporter (as Damaceno Filho)
Cleide Eunice Queiroz	...	Dito's mother
Israel Pinheiro	...	Inspetor I
Carlos Costa	...	Inspetor II
Fabio Tomasini	...	Widower's son (as Fabio Tomazini)
Lineu Dias	...	Assaulted man
Cesar Pezzuoli	...	Young Man
Kocoth	...	Sueli's friend
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Otoniel Serra	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Hector Babenco

Writing credits
José Louzeiro		(book "Infancia dos Mortos")
Hector Babenco		writer
Jorge Durán		writer

Produced by
Paulo Francini	....	associate producer
Sylvia B. Naves	....	executive producer (as Sílvia Naves)
Jose Pinto	....	associate producer
Hector Babenco	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
John Neschling

Cinematography by
Rodolfo Sánchez		(as Rodolfo Sanches)

Film Editing by
Luiz Elias

Art Direction by
Clovis Bueno

Costume Design by
Clovis Bueno

Makeup Department
Josefina de Oliveira	....	makeup artist (as Nena)

Production Management
Lilian Costa	....	production manager (as Lília Costa)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Maria Cecília M. de Barros	....	assistant director

Art Department
Liza Monteiro	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Francisco Carneiro	....	boom operator
Hugo Gama	....	sound
José Luiz Sasso	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Sergio Farjalla	....	special effects
José Marchesin	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Esmeraldo Caetano	....	electrician
Felipe Daviña	....	assistant camera
Aylton de Magalhães	....	still photographer
Paraná	....	grip
Cláudio Portioli	....	camera operator
Altino Procópio	....	electrician (as Altino Procópio Cardoso)
Waldemar Tomas	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Carminha Guarana	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
José Carlos	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Carlos Cabrera	....	production assistant
Marcelo Paes de Barros	....	production assistant
Marçal de Souza	....	production assistant (as Marçal Ferreira de Souza)
Luci Godói	....	production secretary
Luis Alberto Laurindo	....	production assistant
Maria Sílvia Moreira	....	continuity (as Sílvia Moreira)
Daniel Santiago	....	production assistant
Marcelo Tassara	....	title designer
Maria Fatima Toledo	....	coach

Production Companies

• Embrafilme
• HB Filmes

Distributors

• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• CMV Laservision (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• Embrafilme
• Facets Multimedia Distribution
• Palace Video (1982) (UK) (VHS)
• Palace Video (1982) (UK) (video) (Betamax)
• Unifilms (USA) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

Pixote
Pixote, the Law of the Weakest (USA)
The Survival of the Weakest (USA) (subtitle)
Asphalt-Haie (West Germany) [de]
Pixote - den svagares lag (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Pixote - heikomman laki (Finland) [fi]
Pixote, la legge del più debole (Italy) [it]
Pixote, la ley del más débil (Spain) [es]
Pixote, la loi du plus faible (France) [fr]
Pixote, ta hamini tou Sao Paolo (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

Brazil

Language:

Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:(Banned) (original rating) | Australia:R (re-rating after appeal) | UK:18 (cut) | West Germany:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Norway:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Avenida Paulista, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Company:

Embrafilme

Trivia:

The film's star, 'Fernando Ramos Da Silva', who plays a young street criminal, actually was a street criminal before he made this film. After completing it he took up the criminal life again, and was killed in Brazil in 1987 in a shootout with police.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pixote, in memorian (2007)

emotionally devastating Brazilian film

"Pixote" concerns the (mis)adventures of the eponymous hero, a pre-adolescent boy in urban Brazil, abandoned by his parents, who first endures the horrors of a youth prison, and then those of life on the street. Filmed in a quasi-documentary style with real street kids instead of professional actors (for the most part), "Pixote" will leave the viewer utterly devastated at the end of its 2+ hours. It is particulary effective when it develops other characters as they are seen by Pixote, especially those of the streetwise transvestite homosexual Lilica and the aging alcoholic prostitute Sueli (unforgettably portrayed by Marilia Pera, one of the few pro actors in the cast), who become surrogate parents to the young boy in a kind of improvised family whose economy is based on mugging Sueli's clients. Both the tragic denoument (which comes at the end of a film in which tragedy follows tragedy, ad infinitum), and the final shot of Pixote playing alone on the railroad tracks with haunting accompanying music on the soundtrack, are unbearably poignant. A masterpiece.