The Red Light Bandit

The Red Light Bandit (Portuguese: O Bandido da Luz Vermelha) is a 1968 Brazilian crime film directed by Rogério Sganzerla,[1] inspired by the crimes of the famous real-life robber João Acácio Pereira da Costa, nicknamed the "Red Light Bandit" (Bandido da Luz Vermelha).[2] The film is regarded as a classic work of Cinema Marginal, the Brazilian underground filmmaking movement of the 1960s. Sganzerla was about 22 years old when he directed it.[3]

The Red Light Bandit
O Bandido da Luz Vermelha
Original Brazilian release poster
Directed byRogério Sganzerla
Written byRogério Sganzerla
Produced byJosé da Costa Cordeiro
José Alberto Reis
Rogério Sganzerla
StarringPaulo Villaça
Helena Ignez
Luiz Linhares
Narrated byHélio Aguiar
CinematographyPeter Overbeck
Edited bySilvio Renoldi
Music byRogério Sganzerla
Production
company
Urano Filmes
Distributed bySagres Filmes (VHS release)
Release dates

  • 12 May 1969 (1969-05-12) (Brazil)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryBrazil
LanguagePortuguese

Sganzerla called the film a Third World western.[4]

Plot

Born and raised in the Brazilian slums, Jorge is a burglar of luxury houses in São Paulo. He baffles the police with his unusual modus operandi, and is nicknamed is "The Red Light Bandit" by the sensationalist press. Wearing a red flashlight he breaks into houses at night, rapes his female victims and has long irreverent conversations with them, makes daring escapes, and then spends the profits of his crimes extravagantly in the decadent Boca do Lixo district. His criminal exploits are shown in a fragmented manner, voiced over by two narrators in the style of a sensationalistic radio program.

He has an affair with Janete Jane, he meets with other burglars and a corrupt politician, and gets betrayed. Pursued and cornered, he has only one way out of his career of crime: suicide.

Cast
  • Paulo Villaça as Jorge, the Red Light Bandit
  • Helena Ignez as Janete Jane
  • Luiz Linhares as police officer Cabeção
  • Pagano Sobrinho as J.B. da Silva
  • Roberto Luna as Lucho Gatica
  • José Marinho as Tarzan
  • Ezequiel Neves as Reporter
  • Sérgio Mamberti as Homosexual
  • Renato Consorte as TV host
  • Sérgio Hingst as Millionaire
  • Lola Brah as Rich Woman
  • Antonio Lima as Gangster
  • Ozualdo Candeias as Criminal
  • Maurice Capovilla as Gangster
  • Carlos Reichenbach as Gangster
  • Sônia Braga as Victim

Reception

Film critic Ismail Xavier stated that the film treats the criminal's social milieu with irony, making use of collage, intertextuality and pastiche, in contrast with Cinema Novo's naturalistic filmmaking.[1]

In 2015, The Red Light Bandit was chosen by Abraccine, the Brazilian Association of Film Critics, as the sixth best Brazilian film of all time.[5] It was listed by Jeanne O Santos, from Cinema em Cena (Cinema Scene), as a "national classic".[6]

Awards and nominations

1968 Festival de Brasília (Brazil)[7]

  • Best Costume
  • Best Director
  • Best Editing
  • Best Film

Sequel

A sequel directed by Ícaro Martins and Helena Ignez, widow of Sganzerla, was released in 2010: Luz nas Trevas - A Volta do Bandido da Luz Vermelha.[8][9]

References
  1. Xavier, Ismail (1997). Allegories of Underdevelopment: Aesthetics and Politics in Modern Brazilian Cinema. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9780816626779.
  2. "Memory of the World National Cinematic Heritage" (PDF). Unesco. 1995. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  3. "Rep Diary: Tropicália - Film Comment". Film Comment. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  4. Sganzerla, Rogério (2008). O bandido da luz vermelha: argumento e roteiro (in Portuguese). Imprensa Oficial Do Estado. ISBN 978-85-7060-669-3.
  5. "Sem Legenda: 'Limite' lidera os cem melhores filmes brasileiros; veja lista feita pela crítica - 27/11/2015 - Ilustrada". Folha de S.Paulo. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  6. Jeanne O Santos. "Clássicos nacionais". Cinema em Cena. CartaCapital. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  7. Sganzerla, Rogério (2008). O bandido da luz vermelha: argumento e roteiro (in Portuguese). Imprensa Oficial Do Estado. ISBN 9788570606693.
  8. "Continuação de 'O bandido da luz vermelha' estreia em festival na Suíça". Pop & Arte (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  9. Felperin, Leslie (2010-08-19). "Review: 'Light in Darkness: The Return of the Red Light Bandit'". Variety. Retrieved 2017-07-13.


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