The life of a boy in the streets of Sao Paulo, involved with little crimes, prostitution, and other things under the wing of corrupt police and other criminals.The film features Fernando Ramos da Silva (who was killed at the age of 19 by Brazilian police in São Paulo) as Pixote. The movie is shot in the manner of a documentary and shows the strong influence by Italian neorealism in that amateur actors were used whose real lives strongly resembled those of the protagonists in the film.This is by far the most "raw" a film about juvenile crime has ever been. Because of the use of minors and the nudity / violence, this sort of film could probably not be made in the United States or much of Europe. But it never feels exploitative. Rather, it feels honest and true. And that is why it becomes a must-see.

I'm surprised that no has ever posted a negative review for this movie, I'm also shocked by the unanimous praise on this site, so I decided to do one myself, even though a film that has reached such a magnitude of acclaim cannot take a bad opinion very lightly. I know, I know, I'm probably gonna get bashed for hating this movie, since there might be someone who will call me a stone-hearted American who doesn't care about Brazil's youth, but I do care about Brazil and its youth. By the way, I hate political correctness. It seems like if you hate certain movies, particularly because of their subject matter, you will be viewed as someone who has a bad taste in movies or just shallow and thick. I for one think it's contradictory for someone to say that they didn't like it yet call it a good movie. I call that a bunch of bull. For me, if I hate the movie, then it's a bad movie, common sense logic. It doesn't matter if it has the so- called "good script, good cinematography, good acting" and so on. Pixote is a stupid/bad/overrated, oh, that's right, I'm not allowed to criticize because that would make me an evil monster. In a nutshell, a little boy, about 9 to 12 years old, gets put into an orphanage and meets two boys older than him, about 16 to 20, and engage in harsh crimes, involving drugs, violence, rape and all the terrible stuff. I find it sick that someone praises such filth calling it beautiful when I call it sick rubbish. It's exploitation of youth, pure and simple, although certainly not intended to be since it's only trying to show an unfortunate reality happening, but it subconsciously promotes bad behavior. It kind of reminds me of the those 70s and early 80s exploitica films like "The Cannibal Holocaust", which is supposedly real. There's a reason why I'm giving this movie a negative review, because I don't like, and think there should be more room for criticism as opposed to praise. Don't watch it! See something more enjoyable. Throw those bad movies away. And another thing... Does it make it inherently wrong for me to hate "Pixote"? Am I really a mean- spirited person because I am giving this movie a very bad review? Am I the only one who doesn't like this movie? Should I shy away from expressing my emotions/thoughts toward this movie? I really don't mean to be cruel towards the street kids who suffered in real life, I just don't think that making a supposedly "documentary" film is a good idea. Besides, it's NOT a documentary, only partially, it's relatively more fiction/narrative since it follows principles similar to that of Hollywood in America. I don't mean any disrespect to the "actor" who portrayed the lead character in this film. I feel bad that he was killed by the police when he was as young as 19. Interestingly, it's been said that majority of the "actors" were not actually actors, sounds kind of paradoxical, I know, but it was meant to add more "realism". But I don't take too kindly to that kind of film-making, it doesn't seem to work, at least to me. If they are going to make this movie, it shouldn't be fiction/narrative, or in "Pixote"'s case being semi-fiction, it should be truly non-fiction/documentary. Meaning that there should be elements, such as interviews with the street kids, the police, and other people in Brazil, have the director narrate . This is ONLY MY OPINION, nothing more. And if you disagree, then just ignore it, it's not gonna stop me from having the dissenting opinion. I apologize for making people get so damn angry at me. But PLEASE don't hate me too much! I'm just giving an opinion about a FREAKING movie for God's sake!

At the time of Pixote's production in 1980-1981, over half of the cast of "City Of God" wasn't even an idea or even a twinkle in their father's eyes. Over two decades before the release of Fernando Meirelles' ultra-violent crime saga depicting feral youth growing up too fast in Rio, "Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco" set the bar as high as Christ the Redeemer overlooks the city in terms of capturing an accurate reality of the brutal favela life. This hyper-realist, Oliver Twist-by-way-of-Larry Clark account of wayward Brazilian youth still by today's standards provides stark, grim and shocking imagery. Regardless of the generational gap, what truly separates "Pixote" from "City of God" is that it didn't need to use highly stylized violence to compel the viewer. It relied more on the realism and hopelessness of the characters, the blunt sexuality, and a much more punctual yet effective treatment on street violence and state power. In the beginning of the film, (and not every version may feature this) director Hector Babenco (who went on to direct some mainstream American films such as "Kiss of The Spider Woman" and "Ironweed") makes a brief fourth wall breaking announcement of his intentions to depict the daily life of a child in the urban landscape of Sao Paolo. Within this prologue, he reveals the lead protagonist, Fernando Ramos da Silva as himself in his natural habitat.As the child on child violence in City of God seems sensational, when one of these children in Pixote does commit a heinous act, you see the innocence being chipped away frame by frame. Unlike the murderous, maniacal Lil Ze from Ciudad de Deus - who seems to attribute his penchant for crime to something inexplicably innate and evil inside him - Pixote and his cohorts start off as confused, troubled innocent kids who escape their prison-like orphanage and enter the crime world out of survival. In other words, Pixote strives to capture the root causes of youth delinquency, and puts it into a much more constructive context. As far as structure, Pixote is very much like Full Metal Jacket (although it came out five years before, I'm aware). It's split into two parts. The first is the children's experiences in a youth detention center, where they witness and unsuccessfully dodge sexual assault and corruption. This first act could serve as the basic training, complete with the vulnerabilities, the bonding and the resistance soon to follow as seen in Full Metal Jacket. Once a brave select group manages to escape after one of their fellow boarders mysteriously disappears, the four adolescents flee to Rio De Janeiro. Act two is the struggle and eventual dissolution of the four youngsters as they experience complications from drug trafficking, pickpocketing and prostitution in Rio, which offers some beautiful and gritty establishing shots of the city at night. These sequences are parallel to the urban warfare, sniper-dodging chaotic second act of Full Metal Jacket. There is one particular moving scene on the beach when the youngsters share their aspirations within their delusions of freedom and future success. It's just so inspiring yet depressing to see how much hope these kids still have after everything they have gone through. And their situations only gets worse. What makes Pixote even more ahead of its time is how it treats the theme of sexual identity so sensitively. In an incredibly powerful performance, Jorge Juliao, who portrays the gender dysphoric Lilica provides depth to the character. Lilica takes on a maternal role towards Pixote, as she is several years elder than the titular protagonist. This film demonstrates the ability of humans to overcome their differences in the name of survival and trust. There is genuinely a familial bond between the characters, but their dynamics are not restricted. In a time and place where LGBT representations in media would have been taboo, Lilica brings about a character that is far more multi-dimensional than anything US cinema has attempted to do up to that point. Juliao manages to balance the nurturing with the self destructive aspects of her character without slipping into the "hysterical gay" stereotype. Last but not least, the second half also displays the development of the runaways' relationship with Sueli, an aging yet destructively young at heart sex worker, brilliantly portrayed by Marilia Pera. The climax unravels as these kids move in with Sueli. They take on a pimp role and subsequently use her to bait clients that they can rob. As criminal amateurs, they must deal with their own priorities and their complex emotions come into play as they each search for a role within Sueli that she may not be able to provide for them due to her own insecurities. While it is certainly fair to debate if this is art or exploitation, in short, we could conclude that Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco, is provocative and disturbing but necessary and politically resonant. When Larry Clark's "Kids" was released in 1995, it was critically summed up by Janet Maslin as "a wake up call to the modern world." Well if Kids was a wake-up call, then Pixote was the equivalent of your car alarm going off in the middle of the night...and it's parked a block away.

Following the robbery homicide of a Brazilian judge by a street gang, the authorities make a sweep of the local street kids in the area and intern them in a young offender's institution. The film is in part a social issue film where the way the children are treated by the system is condemned and in part a story about a young lad who grows old far too soon. The social issue, although maybe broadly relevant, is hardly au courant some three decades after the film was made, however I didn't feel like this detracted much from the film due to the excellent characterisations and strong story line. It's also not limited by the generics of the prison movie as a lot of the action takes place outside the prison walls.The main character, an extremely small boy, Pixote (pronounced Pichote), is especially winsome and actually played by a real life delinquent who was subsequently shot by police in a shoot-out. He has developed a firmness of independent judgement and level of character that you generally only find in people well into adulthood, something that he's had to do to survive. It's painfully clear at some points though that he is just a skinny little boy that needs his mother.There is charisma to spare in the acting performances, including a youngster who does an extremely catchy homage to Roberto Carlos (the great Brazilian singer as opposed to football player) for the prison gig, and appears destined for stardom if he can stay alive.The kids are in peril because the police are beating them to death in order to find out who killed the judge, whilst the incompetent prison authorities turn a blind eye and fall into a state of apathy concerning the well-being of their wards (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil).Babenco appears fascinated by prison culture and in both this film and his return to the genre with Carandiru (2003) he uses nakedness to remind us of the fundamental vulnerability of the human captives in his film. In the poster for Carandiru you can see the survivors of a prison riot lying naked in a yard, stripped of their clothes (in which they could conceal weapons), in Pixote a "hole" packed with naked children. Beaten, unclothed and helpless it's quite easy to connect with the camouflage of swagger and defiance that they need to survive is taken away. Fundamentally a human is a fragile creature that hurts and most of their persona is just a coping strategy.There's a dream-like feel to a lot of the film, which is often brazenly erotic (the transvestite Lilica dancing in front of a crowd whilst having her under carriage rubbed by an onlooker's raised foot), and anarchical. It's not easy to label the film as nightmarish because some of the experiences, even when negative, are extremely rich, and the friendships heartfelt.A classic faux pas of many non-Anglo movies is that whenever whites appear, they are cardboard cutouts, but here the old American john is as well-realised and succinctly characterised as he could be.Favourite scenes of mine include the post-glue-sniffing fascination of Pixote, and the half-lit dormitory riot which is truly mad.