Carandiru is a ground-breaking portrayal of the largest penitentiary in Latin America, the São Paulo House of Detention.
The film recounts the experience of a doctor working at the House of Detention (where 7800 men serve time in a location originally intended to house a maximum of 3000). Upon observing the prisoners' deplorable state of health, he was moved to volunteer his services on a weekly basis. As his efforts began to bear results, he gradually earned the respect of the prison community. Respect led to the sharing of confidences and visits with ailing prisoners became the context for lively and touching personal stories.
The doctor's encounters in the infirmary become a window onto the everyday life of the criminal underworld. These narratives, set both inside and outside the prison, culminate in the infamous October 1992 Pavilion 9 massacre, in which 111 unarmed inmates were killed. The episode rendered is in the words of the characters who emerge at the end of the film as survivors. Carandiru is not the story of the massacre but about those who somehow lived to recount it.
Special Agent Matti
Carandiru the movie is a series of vignettes about life in prison. To some extent it's like Oz but has a depth of darkness and grittiness that no programme from the USA can approach.
MA 15+ (High level violence, drug use, adult themes)
145 minutes (2:25 hours)
Film: Undated 2004