Underplayed Gems

Carandiru (2003)

Carandiru poster
Directed by
Héctor Babenco
Genre
drama film, independent film, prison film, LGBTQ-related film
Country
Argentina, Brazil, Italy
Runtime
2h 27m
Rated
R
Rating
7.6 of 10 from 618 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More films like thisWatch the trailer

or watch the trailer on YouTube

How it feels

A doctor working at the largest prison in Latin America treats inmates for HIV and AIDS. The film depicts the lives of the prisoners and the events leading to a deadly police massacre.

documentary-likeharrowingsomberimmersiverawvisceralunflinchingreflective

What happens

Carandiru is a 2003 drama film directed by Héctor Babenco. It is based on the memoir Estação Carandiru by Dr. Drauzio Varella. It follows Drauzio (Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos), a physician and AIDS/HIV specialist, volunteering work in the Carandiru Penitentiary, the largest prison in Latin America, in São Paulo, shortly before the 1992 massacre, where 111 prisoners were killed by police forces. The film was shot on location, on the then deactivated prison, months before its demolition in 2002. Babenco stated that Carandiru is the "most realistic film [he has] ever made", presenting the film as a new kind of Brazilian realism inspired by Cinema Novo. Due to this focus on portraying reality and the film's memoir inspiration, Carandiru can be read as a docudrama or as a testimony from the prisoners. The film had its international premiere at the main competition of the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. It was selected as the Brazilian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. In 2015, the Brazilian Film Critics Association aka Abraccine voted Carandiru the 95th greatest Brazilian film of all time, in its list of the 100 best Brazilian films. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.