CARANDIRU, by director Hector Babenco (THE KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN and IRONWEED), is a harrowing movie, based on a true story, set and filmed in a real Brazilian prison. Housing 8,000 prisoners, Carandiru was one of the largest in the world before it was recently demolished.

Although intriguing, the film is way too long and is narratively all over the map, varying from a fictionalized documentary to an almost surreal soap opera and comedy. Watching the movie, you find yourself increasingly ignoring the stories -- a prisoner/medic smokes crack while sewing up a fellow prisoner with a finger almost severed by a rat bite, and another prisoner talks about his two "wives," one who likes to be bitten on the butt during sex and his other wife who is so jealous that she sets the bed on fire. Instead of following the storyline, you begin to think about the conditions of the prison itself.

Disease in the prison runs rampant because of the extremely unsanitary conditions and because of the dangerous behaviors of the inmates. Hard drugs are readily available and unprotected sex is common practice. The men, most of whom seem to be HIV-positive or to already have AIDS, share the disease with their wives and girlfriends on the regular family visits. The prison itself doesn't look like one, appearing more like a gang-infested slum. The guards stay on the walls, leaving the prisoners to self-regulate themselves in a LORD OF THE FLIES fashion.

The acting is all good save the most central character of all, the prison doctor, who relates the story. As played by Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos, the doctor is an ever-smiling cipher. What, pray tell, is this guy so happy about?

CARANDIRU runs way too long at 2:28. The film is in Portuguese with English subtitles. It is rated R for "strong bloody violence/carnage, language, sexuality and drug use" and would be acceptable for older teenagers.