Memoirs of Prison

This major late-career work from Nelson Pereira dos Santos (who had struggled to make it for more than 20 years) is based, as was his earlier groundbreaking film Barren Lives, on a book by Graciliano Ramos. Though it takes place during the Getúlio Vargas dictatorships of the 1930s, when a violent wave of repressions swept the country, Pereira doubtlessly points to a more contemporary Brazil, crafting a damning account against prisons in the widest sense of the term. It centers on Ramos (Carlos Vereza) sinking ever deeper into a bizarre nightmare after he is locked up with other political prisoners in Rio de Janeiro (for “subversive” writing) and then, eventually, with all stripes of inmates on a remote island. Through enforced contact with a wide variety of criminals, he gains a more refined understanding of his country as he grows closer than ever to his wife (Glória Pires), who is transformed by her husband’s imprisonment into a resourceful and enterprising combatant in the struggle for freedom. Winner of the International Critics Prize for the best film at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. An NYFF22 selection. 4K restoration courtesy of L.C. Barreto Produções Cinematográficas.