City Of God

City of God, a searing, violent look at gangs in the notorious favelas, or slums outside Rio. The City of God housing project is one of the more notorious ones, and the events depicted in the movie, based on the novel by Paulo Lins and adapted by Braulio Mantovani , are all based on a true story. City of God takes place over fifteen years, and weaves together a myriad of interconnected stories to give a complex, multilayered look at life in the slums, and the bleakness and hope that arises from it. The two main characters are Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues, Palace II) and Lil' Ze (Firmino da Hora), two people that live close to each other but are complete opposites. Rocket narrates City of God, and according to him, the story of the slum is the story of some of its inhabitants.
Rocket wants to be a photographer. He sees this as his way out of the slums. The City of God is his home, but it's like he stands apart. He hangs with the hippie crowd, and the people around him know he is harmless. Lil' Ze is the exact opposite.Ever since he was a child, he wanted total control, and over the years ruthlessly killed his way to the top.
He doesn't want the gang members stealing from slum residents, but to get on the wrong side of his temper is usually fatal. His childhood friend Benny is the only voice of reason in Ze's organization.



The breathtaking opening sequence sets the overall theme of the movie, as the main character Rocket finds himself literally caught in a standoff – old comrades from the Cidade de Deus slums where he grew up on one side, the state police on the other. Rocket grew up in the favela ("slum") in the 1960s, but always remained on the fringes of criminal activity. He sees his brother Goose , part of a legendary gang called the “Tender Trio” along with partners in crime Shaggy and Clipper , lose his life over menial street crime. Instead, Rocket concentrates on school as best he can while growing up in the ghetto, following more carefree pursuits like his crush on the gorgeous Angelica and smoking the occasional joint with friends. Moving into the 70s, Rocket remains on the fringes of crime, hanging out with others that are involved in the rampant drug trade, but never becoming directly involved himself. Instead, he focuses on his dream of becoming a photographer, working odd jobs in order to earn enough cash to purchase his own first-rate equipment.



Such noble pursuits are rare in the City of God, however, as most boys grow up idolizing the drug dealers and hoodlums that control the area. The prime example of this is Li’l Dice (Douglas Silva), a boy who followed the Tender Trio around like a mascot. With a quick temper and unmatched bloodlust, by the time he is eighteen he is running a large part of the City of God. Rechristening himself Li’l Zé , he teams up with best friend Benny and sets his sights on taking over the drug trade in the entire ghetto. This inevitably leads to clashes with other drug dealers, as they battle for turf. Li’l Zé's first reaction to any resistance is to kill everyone who opposes them. But Benny is the mild-mannered partner, the only one who can calm his pal. Eventually tension begins to build even between the two friends, as Benny drifts away from a life of crime and falls in love with Angelica.



For a movie so brutal, very little of the violence is directly shown. There isn’t a lot in the way of blood and gore. But it in no way lessens the impact. The amazing thing is how natural it all is, how characters don’t seem to even give it a second thought. Even Benny, the one hood with a heart in the entire story, utilizes gunplay and violence when needed. He uses it sparingly in comparison to someone like Li’l Zé, but even so called “good guys” are drawn toward it at some point. Rocket even takes a gun at one point in time with plans to knock off a local bus driver for cash. Plans like this are ordinary to the teenagers in the city, even ones who don’t consider themselves criminals. The violence is particularly hard to stomach when it involves kids, which is quite often. And by “kids” I don’t mean teenagers, I mean actual kids. As in nine or ten year-olds toting guns and shooting former playmates. I’ve also seen complaints about the high body count, with the endless barrage of killings and the complete lack of caring at the deaths. Again, I think such critics are completely missing the point. It’s _supposed_ to get this reaction out of you. The fact that kids, teenagers and others are executed and nobody seems to care is one of the key statements of the film. It reiterates the fact that these killings are all too common and that it’s a vicious cycle taking place – one kid is brutally murdered, another steps right in to take his place. There’s no time to stop and mourn or analyze why it happened. The drug trade and violence continues.


The film received four Academy Award nominations in 2004: Best Cinematography (César Charlone), Best Directing (Meirelles), Best Editing (Daniel Rezende) and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Mantovani). Before that, in 2003 it had been chosen to be Brazil's runner for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but it was not nominated to be one of the five finalists.

Meirelles and Lund went on to create the City of Men TV series and film City of Men, which share some of the actors (notably leads Douglas Silva and Darlan Cunha) and their setting with City of God.



The performances are astonishing as they are authentic, understandably, as the child actors were recruited from the favela streets in which the film is set, avoiding the gloss of stage school. Meirelles and co-director Katia Lund worked for eight months prior to shooting, creating the various episodes through a series of improvisational workshops. The results are incredible – one harrowing, brilliantly acted scene in particular involves a rising group of vicious child gangsters, who give one of their even younger victims the choice of being shot “in the hand or in the foot” in one of the most disturbing scenes in recent years that Hollywood or Europe would shy away from. We’re really not used to seeing children wielding guns as brutal killers and this film really hammers that home.



The film also excels in technical areas. Cesar Charlone's grainy, sun-drenched camerawork is reminiscent of 'Traffic', while Daniel Rezende's stunning, hyper-kinetic editing only occasionally distracts from the film's flow. We see a speeded-up history of an apartment that’s used as a drug base, or a violent confrontation that explodes under the strobe-effects of a nightclub and really artistic freeze frame shots as the characters are introduced.

City of God is a Brilliant film! One of the best I’ve ever had the experienced watching .