Carandiru

The brilliance of Carandiru comes from Babenco audaciously taking up much of the film's time simply building up his characters, with the inmates who tell their stories to the doctor becoming much more than just faceless criminals.

Man får god tid til at komme helt ind på det spraglede persongalleri, der tæller både narkohandlere, røvere og mordere af den værste slags.

What we see at first looks like lawless anarchy. But as characters develop and social rules become clear, we see that the prisoners have imposed their own order in the absence of outside authority.

...Babenco’s cool, detached camera and multilayered storylines, of which there are many, rise above the clichés of the men-in-prison genre by simple dint of narrative power.