''The Sandpit Generals'' (also released as ''The Defiant'' and ''The Wild Pack'') is a 1971

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Hall Bartlett Hall Bartlett (November 27, 1922 – September 7, 1993) was an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life Hall Bartlett was born in Kansas City, Missouri, he graduated from Yale University Phi Beta Kappa, and was a Rhodes Sc ...

. Its plot is based on the novel '' Captains of the Sands'' by

Jorge Amado Jorge Leal Amado de Faria (10 August 1912 – 6 August 2001) was a Brazilian writer of the modernist school. He remains the best known of modern Brazilian writers, with his work having been translated into some 49 languages and popularized in ...

. Melodious soundtracks were written by

Dorival Caymmi Dorival Caymmi (; April 30, 1914 – August 16, 2008) was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actor, and painter active for more than 70 years, beginning in 1933. He contributed to the birth of Brazil's bossa nova movement, and several of his samba ...

. The film was not popular in the United States due to its socialist context and was banned by Brazil's

military regime A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

for the same reason, but became an iconic film in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, where it took part in the

7th Moscow International Film Festival The 7th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 20 July to 3 August 1971. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Italian film '' Confessions of a Police Captain'' directed by Damiano Damiani, the Japanese film '' Live Today, Die Tomorrow ...

and, although did not win any prize, in a few years was widely distributed in movie theaters and was proclaimed "the best foreign film" by

Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (russian: link=no, Комсомольская правда; lit. "Komsomol Truth") is a daily Russian tabloid newspaper, founded on 13 March 1925. History and profile During the Soviet era, ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' wa ...

newspaper in 1974. In the socialist country, the movie became so well-known hat it inspired theater plays, books, special reports on post-Soviet criminal youth etc.

Plot

The film features a

street gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collective ...

of poor

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

youth struggling for existence in Brazil. After letting a girl with her little brother settle in their beach shelter, the gang's inner spirit is gradually reformed as she brings a sense of love and family into their shabby abode. One of the local

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

s helps the gang at the cost of his clergy career. Police eventually capture the main characters and after their lengthy stay in prison, the girl is terminally ill. Her sudden death is a culmination of the movie, it urges the gang to fight for their rights against the government.

Cast

* Juarez Santalvo * Freddie Gedeon as Almiro * Ademir da Silva as Big John * Guilherme Lamounier as The Cat * Eliana Pittman as Dalvah *

as John Adam * Peter Nielsen as Lollipop *

Mark De Vries Mark Lyndon Patrick de Vries (born 24 August 1975) is a Dutch football coach and former player. During his playing career he played in Holland, England and Scotland and has since coached in the Faroe Islands and Hungary. After Cambuur, he started ...

as Dry Turn *

Butch Patrick Butch Patrick (born Patrick Alan Lilley; August 2, 1953) is an American actor and musician. Beginning his professional acting career at the age of seven, Patrick is perhaps best known for his role as child werewolf Eddie Munster on the CBS comed ...

as No Legs *

John Rubinstein John Rubinstein (born December 8, 1946) is an American actor, composer and director. Early life Rubinstein is the son of Polish parents. His mother, Aniela (née Młynarska), a dancer and writer, was a Roman Catholic native of Warsaw, the dau ...

as Professor * Tisha Sterling as Dora *

Kent Lane Kent is a Counties of England, county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River ...

as Bullet

References

External links

* English version of Russian lyrics of the song http://www.stihi.ru/2012/02/06/510 1971 films 1971 drama films American drama films Street children Films based on Brazilian novels Films set in Brazil Films directed by Hall Bartlett Childhood in Brazil Films based on works by Jorge Amado Films shot in Brazil 1970s English-language films 1970s American films {{1970s-drama-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links