this be a difficult movie to watch and and would have be even more difficult have i know then that the actor play the protagonist be in fact kill in his home by police at age 19. pixote ( peewee ) be a street kid in sao paulo who be catch in a roundup trigger by a murder in which he have no involvement . he be commit to a juvenile prison where he witness brutality and exploitation that ordinary citizen try very hard to believe doesn not exist . when finally he escape and he and three comrade survive by the only mean they know and which be crime . what make the film so heart rending be that both pixote and the actor portray him clearly do not wish to be the character life circumstance have make them . pixote try to trust and to love and to bond and but there simply be no room in his world for the gentle side of human nature . one be leave at the end want desperately to do something for the pixotes of the world and but what . build more child prison with high wall surely be not the answer .