Carandiru 

2003/147 minutes/Brazil/Portuguese

Directed by        Hector Babenco

Written by          Hector Babenco/Fernando Bonassi/Victor Navas

Story:Dráuzio Varella

Starring:Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos

Music by              André Abujamra

Cinematography              Walter Carvalho

Editing by            Mauro Alice

Carandiru is a 2003 Brazilian and Argentine film directed by Hector Babenco. It is based on the book Estação Carandiru (English: Carandiru Station) by Dr. Drauzio Varella, a physician and AIDS specialist, who is portrayed in the film by Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos.

Carandiru tells some of the stories that occurred in Carandiru Penitentiary, which was the biggest prison in Latin America. The story culminates with the 1992 massacre where 111 prisoners were killed, 102 by Police. The film was the last thing the prison was used for before it was demolished in 2002, one year before the release of the film.

Plot

This episodic story is set in São Paulo's notorious prison Carandiru, one of Latin America's largest and most violent prison systems.

Dr. Drauzio Varella arrives at the prison as a volunteer to test the prisoners for the deadly HIV infection.

Seeing the disease, overcrowding and rampant circulation of drugs, the Doctor realizes much of the prison is controlled by the inmates. They decorate their cells and have an established pecking order. The strong inhabit messy individual suites and the weak are jammed together, as many as sixteen sharing a 100-square-foot (9.3 m2) cell.

Several narratives develop in the film: the attempted murder of Peixeira, the solitary confinement of Chico and the romance between Lady Di and No Way.

Dr. Varella establishes a routine and comes to see the prisoners as survivors.

The movie ends with a violent prison riot that historically took place on October 2, 1992. The repression of the riot became known as the Carandiru Massacre.

Director Hector Babenco shot the film on location in the actual penitentiary, and in neo-realist fashion he used a huge cast of novice actors — some of whom are former inmates.