838

A shattering drama. Devastating performances from both professional actors and amateurs.

"The classic movie about criminal, exploited, nihilistic kids in peril that predates the much more stylized City of God and the spoiled Kids. Like Lilya 4-Ever and Christiane F., this goes for gritty realism, and even uses real children from the slums... Realistic, disturbing, and terribly pessimistic, with a tragic ending."

#810

While I wouldn't say this surpasses other films of its ilk, it certainly holds its own amongst them. My list of gripes is fairly short. If not outright sensationalism, it does at least push it a bit far at times. And the nursing scene is way too on the nose. One of the things I loved about the movie is the formation of a surrogate family, and this moment summed it up far too neatly. But the performances are remarkable, not a stinker in the bunch and almost entirely done by non-professionals.

Much sense of authenticity finds its way into both the reformatory and the street life, and a sense of dismay trails not far behind. There are also large amounts of triteness, coarseness, and sensationalism mixed in. All types of material are handled with unfaltering dexterity, and the performances by nonprofessional child actors are pretty remarkable.

Challenging and realistic (used actual street criminals), gruesome and honest, this is a movie everybody should see so they can get a glimpse of that life and how disturbing it really is.

# 762

A introdução com o próprio Babenco na favela, narrando a situação do país, já mostra perfeitamente como será o filme: uma exploração apelativa. Atuações ao melhor estilo dos Trapalhões, de quebra.

A portrait of a poor child's typical struggles in the streets of Sao Paulo. Unfortunately this sad story could translate to so many other places in the world, and not just the third world. Fans of City of God will relate to this movie.

Not really that great. Sure, it's brutal enough for everyone (see the little boy do this and that and this and that and this and that) but that's really all there is to it.