From the late 60’s The Red-Light Bandit stands as one more experimental re-telling of a true crime case. The film features a fragmented narrative and darting structure, mixing elements of crime thriller, satire, and anarchic artiness. It was based on the case of João Acácio Pereira da Costa- who in São Paulo in the 60s committed four murders, seven attempted murders, and seventy-seven robberies, receiving a sentence of three hundred and fifty-one years, nine months, and three days in prison. Here from Severin is a Blu-Ray reissue of the film- taking in a 2k scan, a few extras, and a selection of short films.

The Red-Light Bandit is from 1968, and was shot in fairly rough ‘n’ ready black and white stock. It was directed by Joaçaba, Santa Catarina  born Rogério Sganzerla. Between the mid 60’s and early 2000’s, he had twenty-six credits to his name- which were evenly split between shorts and features. His features took in the likes of A Mulher de Todos (1969) an arty comedy fantasy regarding a nymphomaniac, The Abyss (1977) a drama regarding an ancient manuscript featuring José Mojica Marins aka Coffin Joe, drama Nem Tudo é Verdade (1986) a fictional retelling of Orson Welles' passage to Brazil, and documentary Isto é Noel Rosa(1990) about the life of samba composer Noel Rosa.

The film is part of the Cinema Marginal movement, which started off in one of Sao Paulo’s many slums. The films in the movement were ultra-low budget affairs- been deliberately ‘bad,’  nihilistic, and examples of ‘anti-cinema’. The movement featured around thirty films and had come to an end by the 70s.  So with that in mind, The Red-Light Bandit, is far from an easy/ regular cinematic ride- with its dart/ often manic structure.

The title character is played by Paulo Villaça- who is a rather sleek-looking side-burned fellow, who often wears shades, as well as a hanky during his robberies/ attacks. For his crimes, he breaks into apartments/ houses- raping the female occupant, having long conversations, and then robbing them. For the film, his crimes are presented in a fragmented manner- being voiced over by multiple narrators in the style of a sensationalistic news programme- with the text repeated on a lo-fi digital tick tape.

Around this, we find shifting layers of seemingly non-related footage- be it of the slums, corporate businessmen, newsreels, and other films. The film runs at just over the one hour and thirty-minute mark- and it’s most certainly dizzying, at points intense audio/ visual experience- which you truly have to pay your full attention to. And even more bizarrely, and I don’t really understand why towards the end of the film- the narrative switches towards talking about UFOs.

This Blu-Ray is region-free, and though the film has been given a 2k scan- you really wouldn't know it. Due to it being a ragged ‘n’ ropy monochrome film, which truly can’t be polished/ made better.

On the new extras side, we have: Cinema Marginal ( 31.18) which finds producer and film conservationist Paulo Sacramento discussing the genre The Red-Light Bandit fits into- pointing out important titles, key film-makers, etc- with a great selection of clips from the films. A most interesting primer, and it certainly makes one keen to see more films within the genre. And The Anti-Muse ( 24.35)  a filmed interview with actress Helena Ignez.  Both of these extras, like the film itself, are in Portuguese with good easy-to-read subtitles. 

Otherwise, we get two short films- Comics (10.11)  a potted history of comics directed by Rogério Sganzerla. Next is Horror Palace Hotel ( 40.43) which is a decidedly ragged & loose documentary featuring filmmakers and critics connected to the Cinema Marginal. This comes with an introduction from Filmmaker Dennison Ramalho( 5.25)- explaining gives context to the film, though it’s still a very wild/ shifting affair.

In summing up, I’d say you’ve got to enjoy anarchic arty films to fully get/ enjoy what’s on offer here. Yes, there are elements of crime thriller/ exploitation in the film, but the fragmented narrative makes these elements difficult to fully appreciate. Nevertheless, it’s great to see Severin putting this disc out, which is the worldwide Blu-Ray premier of the film.