Rating: 
Summary: Overwhelming
Review: This film is not only one of the most powerful, thought-provoking and empathy-inducing films that I ever seen, but also one of the most well-made. I had to see it twice in order to get over the subject matter enough to fully appreciate and enjoy the style of the film. The style is all its own and fits exactly to the subject matter. There is nothing this film is missing.
Rating:
Summary: Underworld and Youth
Review: This is an awesome movie. had my eyes rivetted to the screen. The story through rocket's eyes, of the young hoodlums in rio's slums. one of the best i have seen, such performances and that too from amateur actors. the whole thing seemed so real. watch it, one of the best you can ever see.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful film
Review: I wouldn't say I "loved" this movie. It was actually quite disturbing. In fact, I don't think I even liked it when I came out of the theatre. BUT, it has stuck with me. And, for the first time - in my life - I looked up the movie on the internet. It turns out most of the characters actually live in those slums. Very few are professional actors. Another interesting thing, in most American ganster flicks, the gangsters wear armani suits and drive fancy cars. These guys wear shorts and ride bicycles. Also, they rarely leave their lair except to go kill somebody. Very little glamour. Still, the characters are completely sympathetic. And the storyline is completely engaging. Very effective editing and production strategy. It's a tough story, so "loving" it would be inappropriate. I was touched and I was moved.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, Beautiful, Disturbing, No Holds Barred.
Review: A Conventional story with unconventional twist and excellent cinematography. A great slice-of-life movie whose characters are depicted in a clever non-stereotypical manner. The humanity (or lack of) of each character shines through. One gets the feeling that we are not watching actors but we are passive participants in this world. Great story, great scenes, beautiful realistic portrayals of people. On a personal note, it reaffirms my position that slums and corruption are the same the world over, and no race, culture, or creed holds a patent on graft, corruption, greed, avarice, or vice. City of God is excellent for any gangster movie fan, and is a challenging and certainly entertaining film overall. Can't wait for the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: finally - an interesting educational movie
Review: This is one of the best movies that I have seen in a long time. It is a very thought provoking movie that just may shake up your preconceived notions about the way the world runs. Set in the '70's in the notorious slum of Rio, Cidade de Deus, this movie deals with issues relevant today - of poverty, oppression, violence, survival, getting ahead and staying alive. The movie is based on real events and is fast-paced and is well-written, directed and acted. You leave the theatre feeling as though you have experienced a taste of the slums of Rio, of the feelings of desperation. What is truly brilliant about this movie, is that from a socio-political level, this movie can be related to so many different cultures around the world - and why they are the way that they are - such as the children who are soldiers in Africa and in the Palestinian Territories - and why the situations are seemingly hopeless and beyond the comprehension of many in the rich western countries. This movie is a real eye-opener. (and don't worry, boring is not a word that applies to this movie!)
Rating:
Summary: Brutal, disturbing and brilliant. I loved it!
Review: Exploding on the screen with color, violence and a great story, this Brazilian film captures the essence of life in the City of God, a slum of Rio de Janeiro. Based on a true story of a young man who somehow escaped the preordained fate of his companions by becoming a photographer, the director, Fernando Meirelles, uses every modern technique to achieve his razor-sharp scenes of drugs, murders and non-stop violence that spins out of control and just keeps going. The frantic energy of the film and fascinating story kept me at the edge of my seat, as a voice-over narration that moved backwards and forward in time, held the story together. All of a sudden, a detail would be revealed that explained something that happened in the past, and, like an electric shock, my grasp of the story would move to even deeper levels. There was little time to ponder it all though, because I was so caught up in what was happening on the screen that it was only later that I could appreciate the brilliance. We watch several young boys grow into teenagers, tentatively experiencing the world of girls and drugs and guns and murders and crime. There's upbeat samba music throughout, and brilliant colors and blood. There's horrific violence, and also fine moments of humor and humanity. All together it just picked me up and plunked me down right into the middle of this world which made me hold my breath and live on the edge with the more than 200 non-professional actors who were recruited for this film. The sense of place is amazing. And the acting was more than just acting. It was real. And it was also one of the most creative films I've ever seen. Bravo to the filmmakers! I give "City of God" my highest recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Another Stellar Film from South America
Review: This film is another proof that confirms my view that some of the most vital films are made in South America right now. While American cinema caters to mindless escapism and self-help drama, films like "Y Tu Mama Tambien", "Amores Perros", and this magnificent film portray what's important and consequential about life. "City of God" tracks the lives of hoodlums in the ghettos near Rio de Janeiro for three decades. Rocket is the main narrator, a boy who tries to overcome his circumstances to become a photographer. The character work is excellent, and gangsters like Li'l Ze, Knockout Ned, and others come to vivid life. The world depicted in this film is a bleak one, and although violent, much of the violence seems a necessary commentary on what makes the people living in it act in such a way. The camera work, and the narrative technique, one that loops backward and forward, is dazzling. This is surely one of the most aesthetically and visually strident films in recent years. All in all, "City of God" deserves to win the Best Foreign Film Oscar this year. It's nothing short of brilliant.
Rating:
Summary: It's worth it!
Review: It's worth it to check this movie out and see how difficult things are for some people. The story is awsome and shows a different reality that most of us live. Even being a Brazilian, but living in the USA, I got shocked with the violence shown at the movie and that made me think a lot about my own life! Check that out!
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely amazing
Review: More than a regular movie, "Cidade de Deus" is an experiment in filmmaking. With only one or two exceptions, all the actors were residents of the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of the same name of the movie. They were all exhaustingly auditioned and trained to participate on the movie with the best and greatest authenticity they could manage. That's what make "Cidade de Deus" so unique. It's an authentic movie, with an authentic story and authentic characters. The story is about the people of "Cidade de Deus", a poor neighborhood built far from the ellegant and glamourous center of Rio de Janeiro of the sixties, built for and by poor families who were later to live there. Of course, during the next decades, The city of Rio de Janeiro englobed Cidade de Deus, and suddenly the poor families were not so far away from the rich zones of the town. Through the years, we follow the life story of some local kids, from utter poverty to immense richness from the traffic of narcotics. We also follow their own destruction in the form of war between rival traffic gangs. Fernando Meirelles was able to transmit, in fast paced rhythms and camera movements, the struggle for power and freedom in the poor suburb. He was also able to mantain the local people-turned-actors authenticity and liberty of acting. There are some strong scenes that leave the spectator mesmerized by their violence and reality. I just hope that the guy/team responsible for the subtitles in english, or in any other language, was someone with an enormous knowledge of portuguese, because the dialogue and constant use of slang (yours truly, a native brazilian, had some hard time in understanding the meaning of some words used in the dialogues) are, alone, amazing aspects of the movie. One of the best enterteinment I ever had. Grade 9.6/10
Rating:
Summary: City of God will blow your mind away
Review: After you finish viewing 'City of God' you are left wondering about the irony of the title. It is not long in the movie where you realize that the City of God is a place totally forgotten by everybody. Still, that is the name that the government of Brazil gave to the housing developments outside Rio, constructed in the early '60s to hold thousands of people. Those slums, known as "the favelas", eventually led to the isolation of poor people from the city center, becoming a place where music, life and colour can be sensed in the air, but at the same time the law is absent and the violent gangs rule the streets. The story of 'City of God' is based on a book written in a period of 9 years by Paolo Lins, a man who grew up in the favelas and managed to escape. In it, he describes his experiences regarding the creation and the rise of the gangs that control the drug dealing business. Fernando Meirelles, who started as a director for TV commercials, transforms this complex and demanding material (the book includes more than 200 characters), into a breathtaking, terrifying film that is visually stunning (among others, it includes extensive use of hand-held cameras, flashbacks to introduce the different characters, fast cuts and distinct colours to distinguish the '60s from the '70s, where all the action takes place) and at the same time, shockingly violent: The rate of deaths is so high while the age of the victims so small. 7-year old boys look for guns before they are even able to go to school, and to make things even worse, use them against each other without any hesitation. The gangs provide them with status, power and recognition, replacing importance social structures such as the family. 'City of God' is a film that will blow your mind away; it will certainly trouble you and probably make you feel a bit ashamed and guilty about the things that actually happen around the world, without us doing or knowing anything about. It is certainly refreshing to see occasional moments of humour intervene with its otherwise grim and serious nature. In any case, it is one of the most powerful motion pictures of the current year.
|
