When the first season of oz finished airing, we had many characters who we grew to care for (or hate) presumably dead. That was a risky premise that the creators didn't venture into. I love Oz. It's a true victory, but after seeing this movie (in the Haifa film festival), I know there's something better.
Carandiru does just that and takes it one step further. The brutal massacre in the end kills almost everybody, after building in us pure hope, not through melodramatics (no rape scenes or male nudity for example), but through hard realism. It's difficult to explain this, but this movie makes you care for the worst kinds of men because it shows you their humanity - their weaknesses and faults, in the prison and outside it. It doesn't give faces to the dead - it gives them souls. Not just a statistic you hear about in the news - 111 dead - they are people with stories, good and bad, that live again in this movie. And you mourn for their senseless death in a way you wouldn't if you heard about it in the news, shocking as it would be.
In an era of computer-generated effects which hide poor movies, seeing this rare gem, offers a rich cast of characters, many scenes where hundreds of actors participate perfectly (especially the visiting-day scene) detailed, original stories, and all of this in a claustrophobic set. This a lesson in how cinema should be and can be.
Carandiru does just that and takes it one step further. The brutal massacre in the end kills almost everybody, after building in us pure hope, not through melodramatics (no rape scenes or male nudity for example), but through hard realism. It's difficult to explain this, but this movie makes you care for the worst kinds of men because it shows you their humanity - their weaknesses and faults, in the prison and outside it. It doesn't give faces to the dead - it gives them souls. Not just a statistic you hear about in the news - 111 dead - they are people with stories, good and bad, that live again in this movie. And you mourn for their senseless death in a way you wouldn't if you heard about it in the news, shocking as it would be.
In an era of computer-generated effects which hide poor movies, seeing this rare gem, offers a rich cast of characters, many scenes where hundreds of actors participate perfectly (especially the visiting-day scene) detailed, original stories, and all of this in a claustrophobic set. This a lesson in how cinema should be and can be.