Mar del Plata (Argentina), 1946 – São Paulo (Brazil), 2016

By Afrânio Mendes Catani

Filmmaker Héctor Eduardo Babenco lived in Brazil and Europe during his youth. In the 1960s, he worked on the production of around forty films in Spain. After directing institutional short films in Brazil, he made his feature film debut in 1976 with O rei da noite. In 1978, he adapted José Louzeiro’s novel Lúcio Flávio, o passageiro da agonia for the screen, tackling pressing themes of the time such as death squads and police corruption.

He achieved success with Pixote, a lei do mais fraco (1981), another adaptation of Louzeiro’s work, and O beijo da mulher aranha (1984), based on the eponymous novel by Manuel Puig, for which actor William Hurt won an Oscar. Babenco also produced major international films such as Ironweed (1987), based on William Kennedy’s book about homeless people during the Great Depression in the 1930s, and Brincando nos campos do senhor (1990), adapted from Peter Matthiessen’s novel about missionaries in the Amazon. Both films were financial failures for their producers.

In 1995, he underwent a bone marrow transplant due to lymphatic cancer. His next film, the autobiographical Coração iluminado (1998), with a script by Ricardo Piglia, was another box office flop. Success returned with Carandiru (2003), which attracted nearly 5 million viewers and was based on Dr. Drauzio Varella’s book about the largest prison in Latin America. He then directed O Passado (2007), marking the final film appearance of Brazilian actor Paulo Autran (1922 – 2007). In March 2016, he released Meu Amigo Hindu, which would be his last work.