King of the Night

Héctor Babenco’s first feature traces the descent of Tertuliano (Paulo José), a once-promising aspiring lawyer, into a life of decadence and amorality on the bohemian fringes of São Paulo as he falls into tempestuous relationships with several women, including a sex worker (Marília Pêra). Tracing both Tertuliano’s slide into self-destructive hedonism and São Paulo’s changing social landscape from the 1920s to the 1970s, KING OF THE NIGHT is a striking first expression of Babenco’s career-long concern with life on the margins.