Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.5

Pixote Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 4, 2020

Note: This film is available as a part of Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project, No. 3.

Martin Scorsese has been curating the World Cinema Project for around thirteen years now, and the result has been a veritable cornucopia of international films that in some cases Scorsese’s efforts have helped save from the ravages of time (and vinegar syndrome). As of the writing of this review, the World Cinema Project is closing in on fifty restorations that they’ve undertaken, allowing fans to view films that, as even Scorsese himself states in some of the introductions included in this set, have been woefully underappreciated and rarely seen (even a cineaste of Scorsese’s reputation mentions that some of these films were “new” to him courtesy of the World Cinema Project). This third volume of films aggregates six interesting offerings that have at least some subtextual cross connections at times, but which serve as yet another example of what an incredible job the World Cinema Project does in bringing films of undeniable merit to a wider audience.

Pixote is the newest of the six films in this volume of the World Cinema Project's releases, and in some ways, it may be the most profoundly disturbing. Shot in a quasi-documentary style by Héctor Babenco (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Ironweed), the film details the trials and tribulations of its title character (Fernando Ramos da Silva, in a riveting and ultimately heartbreaking performance), who is what might be termed in the United States a "juvenile delinquent" who has been consigned to a completely corrupt and hell like "reform school". As Babenco gets into in his "prologue" filmed for American audiences (included on this disc as a supplement), Brazilian law doesn't allow for the prosecution of minors, and so many of these "delinquents" find themselves the subject of recruitment efforts on the part of criminals who enlist their aid in various nefarious enterprises, and Pixote himself becomes a pawn in just such a situation.

Pixote is an unflinching look at characters, many young kids, stuck in lives of hopelessness and despair, and as such, it can be a tough slog at times. The film has some bracingly contemporary aspects, including a major trans character ((Jorge Julião), but it's really in its overall depiction of Brazil's crime ridden favelas and urban environments that provides the film with so much of its emotional heft. As Martin Scorsese gets into in his brief but interesting introduction, da Silva's own personal life sadly mirrored Pixote's in a number of ways, which probably only gives the film more of a tragic aspect.

Pixote Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Pixote is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Some opening text cards offer the following verbiage on the transfer:

Restored by The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project and Cineteca di Bologna at L'Immagine Ritrovata in association with H Filmes, Cinemateca Brasileira and JLC Facilitacoes Sonoras.

Restoration funded by the George Lucas Family Foundation.

Pixote was restored using the original camera negative and a first generation internegative preserved at the Cinemateca Brasileira.

In order to minimize the overall presence of mold, particularly invasive in reels 3, 5 and 6, the camera negative was wet-gate scanned at 4K resolution. Missing frames in three different shots of reel 3 were replaced using the internegative.

The recently rediscovered original magnetic soundtrack, also affected by mold, with the oxide peeling off the base, was carefully repaired by Beto Ferraz, then digitised and restored by José Luiz Sasso (ABC), re-recording mixer for Héctor Babenco in 1981.

Final color grading was supervised bby cinematographer Rodolfo Sánchez (ABC) using a first generation 35 mm print as reference.

Probably due at least in part to its more recent provenance, Pixote is one of the better, more consistent, looking presentations in this volume of World Cinema Project films. While the grain field is often quite heavy and gritty looking, that adds to the vérité sensibility Babenco is obviously aiming for, though that said, the grain field does spike rather strongly at various moments for reasons not entirely related to things like the amount of light (contrast screenshot 15, which is in at least relatively good lighting, with screenshot 7, which is in almost complete darkness, and you'll see what I'm talking about). There is a slight blue tint at times, though for the most part the palette looks natural. Fine detail is typically excellent, especially in close-ups (where it can be a little gut wrenching at times due to some injuries which are shown). There's no major damage of any kind to report.

Pixote Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Pixote features an LPCM Mono track in the original Portuguese. This is a bustling soundtrack that offers a glut of elements, including crowd noises, urban soundscapes, some calmer and more soothing beach moments, and music by John Neschling. The clamor of the reform school is well represented, and some of the outdoor material has good ambient environmental sounds. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout.

Pixote Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Martin Scorsese Introduction (1080p; 3:32)


• Héctor Babenco (1080p; 21:47) features a 2016 interview with the director done as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Visual History Program Collection. In Portuguese with English subtitles.


• U.S. Prologue (1080p; 1:52 ) features Babenco offering some introductory context about Pixote for American audiences. In Portuguese with English subtitles.

Pixote Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Pixote is a devastating indictment of the way Brazilian criminals enlist minors, who, due to the vagaries of Brazilian law aren't able to be charged with a major crime before reaching the age of 18. The film is highlighted by a captivating but distressing performance by Fernando Ramos da Silva, who seems to arrive at his characterization from personal experience. Pixote is not an "easy" watch, but it's an essential one. Technical merits are solid and Pixote comes Highly recommended.