The Mutants ( Os Mutantes )

The Mutants (DVD) (*)

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Original Title: Os Mutantes
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Subtitles )
Portuguese ( Dolby Digital Stereo )

Product Origin/Format:
France ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
114 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1998 and produced in:
France ( France, Benelux )
Portugal ( Spain, Portugal )

Directed By:
Teresa Villaverde

Written By:
Teresa Villaverde

Actors:
Ana Moreira ..... Andreia
Alexandre Pinto ..... Pedro
Nelson Varela ..... Ricardo
Alexandra Lencastre ..... Social Worker
Paulo Pereira ..... Zezito
Helder Tavares ..... Franklin
Teresa Roby ..... Pedro's Mother
António Capelo ..... Pedro's Father
Jorge Bruno Gomes ..... Pedro's Brother
Samuel Costa ..... João Paulo
Carlos Castilho ..... Artur
Maria Tengarrinha ..... Julia
Marta Sofia Vargas ..... Paula
Isabel Ruth ..... Isabel
Alfredo

Synopsis:

A bleak drama about street children abandoned by the Portuguese juvenile system, Os Mutantes/The Mutants was immediately controversial in Portugal, where it inspired nationwide debate over reform of the nation's youth authorities. Os Mutantes examines the lives of Pedro, Ricardo and Andreia, three kids in their early teens who have rejected life in juvenile homes or with foster families to take their chances on their own. They drift into petty crime and are exploited by sexual predators; the two boys end up working in a pornographic film, while Andreia becomes pregnant. When Andreia turns to her mother for help, the mother turns her away, telling her she can barely support herself, let alone a new baby. Os Mutantes was filmed with a largely non-professional cast; director Teresa Villaverde had originally planned to make a documentary about homeless children, but when government authorities refused to cooperate, she used her research as the basis for this screenplay, giving many of the children she met in her travels roles in the film.

Andrea, Pedro and Ricardo refuse to accept the world as it is. They don't seem to fit anywhere. But they don't give up, they go on looking, projecting a palpable force that spreads everywhere, threatens to explode. They're bursting with the energy and determination to change things, to live a different life. They don't see why they should accept the role others have assigned them. They just won't play it‹and yet there is no other role for them. They're survivors, mutants. They happen to live in Portugal, but there are mutants everywhere. The world might wish they didn't exist, but exist they do. And in this tale they dream, weep, laugh, have children, die and fly off.

In Lisbon, there are special homes that shelter teens of both sexes who arrive from all over the country. These boys and girls have nowhere of their own to go; they've been taken from their families, or have none; they have hurt their families, been hurt by them, or will be hurt by them. But while their home lives may be untenable, the system of children's homes often lets them down too. Pedro and Ricardo end up in porn films, and Andreia gives birth alone, in a gas station.

This product was added to our catalog on Friday 24 December, 2010.

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