"Carandiru" is a strong and provocative Brazilian film that sheds light on the brutal realities of prison life. The film follows the lives of a large cast of characters, and it culminates in a great riot scene.

The film has been compared with the Oscar nominee, "City of God," but the two films have almost nothing in common except both are in Portuguese. "City of God" has flashier cinematography and quicker cuts; "Carandiru" has more leisurely pacing. "City of God’ is about crime culture, and "Carandiru" is more about the tragic ramifications of crime on the lives of the criminals.

Directed by Hector Babenco, a Brazilian, whose best works include "Pixote," and "Kiss of the Spiderwoman," which try to create empathy for the poor, imprisoned, sexually confused or other underprivileged underdogs in society.

The film is based on the real experiences of a prison doctor, Dr Drauzio Varell. He worked at the Carandiru prison in the ‘80s doing AIDs prevention treatment. During his stay he got to know the prisoners intimately, and was able to bond emotionally with them.

In the film, Luis Carlos Vasconcelos does a good job portraying the doctor. We see everything through his eyes, and he functions as the compassionate narrative voice in the same way as Hawkeye did on the MASH series.

He gets to meet a varied assortment of characters such as the androgynous Lady Di who has Diana posters all over her room. She slept with thousands of inmates, but she wants to get married to one man. One of the most suspenseful scenes was when she gets her AIDs test results.

The doctor also gets to hear all the tales of how the prisoners got to jail. We see many of them in flashbacks, but we have reason to doubt their accuracy since everyone tries to make themselves look good. In one of the most heartbreaking tales, an innocent youth kills some people in self-defense and gets an unjust long sentence.

"Carandiru" is not groundbreaking but paints a convincing portrait of a hellish environment with its own rules and hierarchy.

The film holds up fairly well against most prison dramas but it is not nearly as powerful as "Shawshank Redemption" or "Cool Hand Luke."