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Directed By
Fernando Meirelles
Cast:
Seu Jorge, Alice Braga, Matheus Nachtergaele, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen, Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Jonathan Haagensen, Seu Jorge, Jefechander Suplino
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City of God (2002)
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Movie Review by Chris
March 17th, 2009
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There is nothing I can say about 'City of God' that hasnt been said about it before, it's just such a marvelous, yet brutal film, showing us the harsh realites of growing up in Brazil. Not just Brazil though, smaller area's of Brazil, more like the slums, where kids run around with weapons, murder is not unusual and people are willing to do anything for money, just very poor areas. Fernando Meirelles brings this harsh reality these people live in to the big screen, in an almost documentary style then just being a fiction film. Our characters seem real, the plot is extensive and interesting and the whole film is just a great experience, though at times the movies level of violence is a little high, it helps out the impact of the movie because violence isnt unusual in these areas. It's actually one of the biggest problems with Brazil, gangs or even groups of kids are murderer's, and at times theyre to smart even for the local police, whom are very abusive.
City of God is based on a true story that takes place in the 60's where in the slums of Rio De Janeiro two boys growing up in the neighborhood take on different paths in life. The story is told through eyes of Buscape, a poor young fisherman's son who dreams of becoming a photographer one day. His story narrates the violence and corruption surrounding the city and the rise and fall of one of the city's most notorious boss'. Li'l Ze. As war wages on the streets Buscape's only way out of this violent life is to expose its brutality the world through his pictures. Along the way the lives of other are put into perspective as their stories intersect with the events that take place.
It actually took me a long time to gain the interest in this film to sit down and watch it, I'm not to fond of foreign films, but there seemed to be so much more here then just an attempt to entertain us, as an audience. Every emotion I could ever feel while watching a movie, anger, sadness, fear, excitement, I felt it all in 'City of God', which showed me just how well Fernando, as a director, can create something interesting for us to watch. One thing I thought was really cool about his approach to directing was that almost the entire film is a flashback, told by our main character who narrarates it all. But, instead of just showing us these flashbacks, we go farther into the past, seeing flashbacks of flashbacks. This was a very interesting thing to do, it helped very much with how we feel about our characters. Instead of just freezing the frame and having our narrarator tell us of how they became so high in power, we go back and see it visually.
This makes us feel for the characters, makes us see them as more then just somebody on our television screen. One thing I really want to point out about the movie is the reality of how the film portray's Brazil's problem with violence. Yes, we do see kids as young as maybe 5 years old running around with machine guns, even when they are young and small, theyre fight for power begins immediately. If you meet the right friends and your trusted, you can become a drug runner, or even a dealer. We are shown drug dealers who are very young, not even in their teenage stage yet. This is very sad to see that these kids are risking their lives to make money and get their name known, even though they know that somebody better then them is going to try and take them out because of competition. Violence rules these areas, if you want to take over and be the best, you must kill whats holding you back the most.
The film covers this detail of violence in excellent precision, the film is never seems to be "hollywood violence", where copious amounts of violence is sprayed everywhere for entertainment. Instead, it looks remarkably real, which helps us believe in the story a little more then usual. There is a unique scene where a gang leader shoots a very young kid in the foot, maybe 4 years old, just because they were talking of taking out fellow drug dealers. I found this scene very hard to watch, because that is actually what happens in foreign countries, and it's pretty unbelievable, though we know deep inside that it is all true. For those who havent read up on anything about the slums of Brazil, after watching this movie, they might find that 'City of God' is just another crime drama, well its not, it's a reality experience through the violent world of Brazil, and it surely leaves an impact on you when your finished watching it. It is well deserved on the 4 Oscar nominations, and this is an unforgettable film, without a doubt.
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