Tweet
Released by: Severin Films
Released on: Ocotber 29th, 2023.
Director: Rogério Sganzerla
Cast: Paulo Villaça, Helena Ignez, Pagano Sobrinho
Year: 1968
Purchase From Severin Films
The Red Light Bandit – Movie Review:
Rogério Sganzerla’s 1968 film, The Red Light Bandit, is widely regarded in its native Brazil as a milestone film in the Cinema Marginal movement of the sixties and seventies, essentially an underground film scene that mixed social commentary, politics and even sometimes genre trappings to create some seriously interesting, and tragically under seen (at least in North America) films that sometimes straddle the line between arthouse and grindhouse cinema.
Crafted when its director was only twenty-one years old and based on police reports that details the exploits of a bandit running riot in São Paulo, the story sees Paulo Villaça cast as the criminal in question, a charming man with no shortage of natural charisma. He’s a criminal, sure, but he doesn’t steal from the city’s impoverished masses in the Boca do Lixo district, but rather the rich people that call São Paulo home. As he gets away with one crime after the next, he becomes confident enough in himself to poke fun at the cops who continue to fail to catch him and in doing so, becomes a folk hero of sorts.
As the story plays out, using first person narration from Villaça’s character, we learn that he grew up in the slums of the city, poor as dirt, essentially using this as justification to break into fancier homes and help himself to whatever he might find, including any attractive female occupants, whether they want him to or not. One of his conquests, Janete Jane (Helena Ignez), however, turns out to be just as crafty and devious as he is, creating an alliance of sorts between the two of them and soon enough, he’s killed a few people for getting in his way.
Meanwhile, the cops, lead by Detective Sade, start to chase the bandit down with the hope that they can eventually bring him in and see that he faces justice.
Loaded with social commentary on the state of Brazil in the era in which it was made and the political state of the country at the time, The Red Light Bandit gleefully mixes up noir influences, western tropes and leftist leanings in ways that would make Jean-Luc Godard proud (the influence of Goddard on the film seems obvious very early on, though Orson Welles is all over this too). The Brazilian setting and the influences of the country’s society, however, ensure that this is no copycat, as it feels very much like a product of the country from which it came. The cinematography is a little rough in spots but it’s also very energetic, with a lot of camera movement capturing the characters at work (and play) as well as the city that surrounds them almost to the point of suffocation. The music employed in the film works well and complements the drama, the humor and the action that all play a part in the narrative.
Paulo Villaça is very good as the male lead. We can see why ladies would like him, he’s pretty slick and when he isn’t committing crime after crime, even likeable. Much of this, we can assume, comes from the actor’s charisma rather than the script, and Villaça makes this role his own. Likewise, Helena Ignez does a great job in her role. She looks fantastic and has just as much energy and screen presence as her male counterpart. They make a great pair.
The Red Light Bandit – Blu-ray Review:
The Red Light Bandit arrives on Blu-ray from Severin Films in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.33.1 “scanned in 2K from the original camera negative” on a region free 50GB disc. The black and white image shows heavy grain and mild to moderate print damage throughout, but it’s perfectly stable and always very film-like in appearance. Contract is generally fine, through whites bloom in a few spots likely due to the original photography. Black levels are good and the image is thankfully free of any noise reduction, edge enhancement or compression issues. It’s clear that the elements for this were in less than perfect shape, so keeping that in mind, the image isn’t going to be pristine, but this is still a very solid high definition offering.
The Portuguese language 24-bit DTS-HD 2.0 Mono track, which comes with optional subtitles in English only, can sound a tad thin at times and does have some occasional hiss and mild sibilance in the mix but for the most part, it sounds alright. The levels are set right and for such an obscure release taken from less than perfect elements, this is more than serviceable if not perfect.
Cinema Marginal is an interview with Producer and Film Conservationist Paulo Sacramento that runs just over thirty-one minutes. This piece covers Brazil's underground and avante garde cinema scene and goes over the film movement that began in the country in the late sixties as well as some of the key people that were involved in it and some of the more important films in which they were involved. We learn that it was a close knit group and that many of them were friends, how it came to be known as Cinema Marginal, how it was different from the more serious Cinema Nuvo movement, the distribution that these movies received in their homeland, literary influences, how The Red Light Bandit factors into this and what makes it an important entry in the movement, where Coffin Joe fits into all of this and the controversy that surrounded him, the different venues that showed these movies, how there was often times a sense of humor attached to these movies and more. This is interesting stuff that sheds some welcome light on something a lot of domestic audience members aren't necessarily going to be all that well-versed in.
The Anti-Muse is an interview with Actress Helena Ignez running twenty-five minutes. She talks about how she came to be involved in the Cinema Marginal movement, early films that she was involved with and some of the people that she's worked with over the years, the Cinema Nuvo movement that came before the Cinema Marginal movement, her relationship with Glauber Rocha's influence and affect on her life, how she came to be involved in The Red Light Bandit as well as what she feels the film is truly about, thoughts on her character in the movie and what Rogério Sganzerla (who she was dating around this time) was like to work with. She also covers other films she made during this period, her approach to acting and expressing herself through her craft, the socio-political climate in Brazil during this period and how it affected things and more. Towards the end of the piece there's an interesting vintage talk show clip where she and Sganzerla are interviewed.
We also see a trailer for The Red Light Bandit included on the disc.
Severin also provides two short films on this release, the first of which is Comics by Rogério Sganzerla. This short runs ten minutes and it opens with a bunch of different comic strip panels over the credits before then providing a brief history of how illustrations evolved into comic strips and comic books over the years not just in Brazil but around the world. Along the way it points out the work of key contributors like Hal Foster, Chester Gould, Alex Toth, Lee Falk, Alain Resnais, Milton Caniff, Al Capp and others (Jean Rollin and Nicholas Devil's Saga de Xam even gets a mention here!).
The second short film is Horror Palace Hotel by Jairo Ferreira. This one runs forty-one minutes and it features an appearance from none other than José Mojica Marins, which will instantly make this a must watch for many fans. The basic premise for this is that there's a hotel where a group of filmmakers and critics are congregating for a convention/film festival that are interviewed about their thoughts on the state of Brazilian cinema as well as what would define horror for them. Interestingly enough, even thought this was made in 1978, Marins speaks here about his ideas of Embodiment Of Evil, his final Coffin Joe featured which didn't get made until thirty years later in 2008. This one comes with an introduction by Filmmaker Dennison Ramalho (sporting a Sabot shirt and with a copy of Barry Windsor Smiths' fantastic Monsters graphic novel in the background and a great Marins poster for Hallucinations Of A Deranged Mind hanging on his wall – this guy would be rad to hang out with!) that runs five minutes where he speaks about how this is basically a newsreel of sorts that documents the Cinema Marginal movement as it was in 1978 and why all these filmmakers were convening at this convention, how the project is an alcohol fueled hypothesis put forth by the interviewees about what cinema means to them.
This release comes packaged with a nifty limited edition slipcover.
The Red Light Bandit - The Final Word:
The Red Light Bandit is a politically charged slice of insane pop art that is very much a product of its time, yet still very engaging by modern standards. It’s great to see a movie like this, this is so closely adhered to its Brazilian homeland, get a special edition Blu-ray release in North American, particularly when its accompanied by some excellent supplemental features that cover its history and importance as it is on this disc from Severin Films. Recommended.
Click on the images below, or right click and open in a new window, for full sized The Red Light Bandit Blu-ray screen caps!
