This remarkably sober film brings Brazil's premier film-maker and one of the 20th-century's most important writers together: Nelson Pereira dos Santos and Graciliano Ramos. The film--as is already clear from the title--recounts the experiences of the leftist writer and educator Graciliano Ramos who was imprisoned in the 1930's by the rightist regime of Getulio Vargas. The director--known for his neo-realist films like "Rio 40 Graus" has deliberate pacing and realist camera style to bring Ramos's reflective memoirs of prison life to the screen. Unlike many prison films, this one centers on the day-to-day life of a political prisoner, his observations, his life, and how he deals with the people around him. Dos Santos displays his skills as a veteran director to explore the settings of northeastern Brazilian prisons and to obtain first-rate performances from his actors. The word that comes to mind is respect--for the subject, the writer, and the immense suffering of people in the difficult era of the 1930's.