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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
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Pixote has now become a full-grown thug at the approximate age of eleven. He hasn’t been a child in years, if he ever was one. However, for these children it isn’t any easier out in the real world. The reality is that they are still in a jail, only you cannot see the walls that surround and restrict them. However, the truth is displayed during the roll call when the children all state that they are either from broken homes, don’t have any homes or don’t even know if there parents are alive or not. The scene is probably the most confusing and disturbing.
At this point in the film Pixote is no longer looked at like the young child of the group. So, in the reform school where things are supposed to be worse, all Pixote did was dabble with drugs. The grown prostitute taking on the imagined reality of being a mother, if only for a brief moment. The hooker would arouse the customer for a while until they were vulnerable and then Pixote and the other children would rob the customer at gunpoint. Pixote and three of his friends are shown in the city constantly committing petty crimes in order to survive. The other child who was originally in the group ran away and Pixote killed the other two with his poor judgment. We are able to see both of these characters’s vulnerabilities in this scene. Mostly, they are just stealing ladies’ bags and purses. You would think that it would be a wise decision to escape the reform school because of its violence and abuse.
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