City of God

Rating:
Summary: The kind of movie that stays with you...
Review: This is the best movie I have ever seen. I saw it twice and I still recall some scenes. I yearn to see it once again. It describes life in the ghettos of Brazil. The poverty, violence, gangs, and most importantly the youth.
The fact that it had english subtitles did not change the effect of the movie. I still laughed, cringed, and was utterly disturbed while watching it. All in all it was highly entertaining, as well as disturbing. You will thank me for this one. Don't even rent the DVD, buy it!

Rating:
Summary: GROUNDBREAKING AND DISTURBING
Review: In Brief

Based on Paolo Lin's shattering novel Cidade de Deus, City of God traces dozens of intertwined stories of love, humour and struggle that reveal the real people inside Rio de Janerio's drug riddled neighbourhoods. The focus of the film is based around two boys growing up in this violent world and how the different paths they take couldn't have been further from each other as one becomes a photographer and the other a drug dealer.

Review

Based upon a true story the film is told from the perspective of Rocket, a poor child who is too frail and scared to become an outlaw but also too smart to be content with an underpaid job. He is the complete opposite to Lil Dice, a child of similar age who becomes Rio's most dangerous drug dealer and as the film progresses the differences between them become startlingly obvious. Set over three decades this film provides some of the hardest imagery I have had to watch in some time. Yet in no way is any of the content of the narrative or mise-en-scene gratuitous, but rather shocking in the way that it will make you feel.

There is something very strange about seeing a child with a gun, to most of us there is nothing new about this image as we have all seen children playing with toy firearms and indeed have ourselves at some point in our life. Yet to watch a child in a film who although is acting with a fake weapon, doesn't detract from the intense shock value of seeing a small boy murder and even enjoy it with an intense smile upon his face. I suppose this comparison does highlight how gang culture is bred from playing as we watch the same boys in a ball game later highjack, become drug pushers & murders with a callous carefree attitude as if it were all still a game.

While the film opens with some flashy digital editing that has already become dated since its overuse in Guy Richie's films, there is no denying that the story is the most powerful thing on display here. It is delivered through some very strong performances from the children, teenagers & adults involved but it the natural rhythm that the narrative provides that makes the daunting task of telling a 30 year story flow with such an ease that makes one want to learn the how the predetermined outcome will and has been affected by the past.

The Verdict

This is a beautiful work from a director that was recognised by Cannes in 2002. It is not for the weak of heart as the shocking reality on display here is told without many of the conventions that make a gritty film gritty. Yet the story is as clear as much of the stunning photography: a single cell or still may provide a postcard view of Rio but the narrative shows the flip side - the true side - and how much of life is a fight with fate in the City of God.

Rating:
Summary: Voted ¿Best Film 2003¿ - Empire Magazine
Review: Having best film 2003 from the British Film Magazine "Empire" is not a bad acclaim to have on your curriculum vitae. Neither is it such a bad thing to have that when not one member of your cast is known to anyone or the fact that subtitles bumble along at the bottom of your screen. For a director that can only spell one thing - Fernando Meirelles must be quite a gifted auteur... and he is.

City of God deserves it "Goodfellas" status and certainly many parallels can be drawn between the two - story spans decades across various family criminal lines, protagonist is trying to get out of his predicament with violence around every corner from both the mob and the cops. The premise is complex. City of God is a slum in Rio De Janeiro where murder, theft and police corruption is a way of life. Several children's stories are covered as they grow up to take their paths as either drug dealers, hit-men, gun sellers, armed robbers or just nobodies trying to get out of the nightmare city. Each kid has his own effect on the City of God which for one decade looks like drug disco paradise and then the next, a hell-hole worse than some outpost of the Vietnam War. However what is most frightening here is that there are hardly any adults in sight. The average age of a hoodlum in this film is five years of age with a "Godfather" being about eighteen. Kids can get hold of an AK47 quicker than they can get hold of a packet of sweets and they will use their guns in a bat of an eyelid.

The truth is that this film covers roughly twenty or so characters in depth and at times may seem slow, but these dull moments which last only a few minutes can certainly be forgiven for the dynamics that are on display here. Our main protagonist is basically a youth becoming a "war correspondent" with the local news media and he gets himself right in on top of the action with his camera. Meirelles manages to capture some awe-inspiring scenes and cuts the film together in an amazing fashion with lots of extremely moving cinematography. The actors and their acting is also strikingly real, many of whom actually feel as if they carry some real City of God genes in their blood. This movie looks as good as, if not better than, most Hollywood blockbusters.

The film is shocking in parts with children shooting and torturing other children in order to get their piece of the city. It is mostly grim and upsetting. Adults seem resigned to the background where they can do little more than just sit back and watch their kin rip the world apart. The problem is that the US has basically outlawed drugs in their city which is enforced by the police (unless on the take) and so this is how everybody makes a living - selling marijuana and cocaine, but at the same time COLT company is pumping out those weapons like no tomorrow. Soon enough the teens have collected enough ammo to make each one look like an upgraded version of Rambo.

This is art house cinema with a hell of a bite and many social morals to enlighten us. It is a tour de force to be reckoned with and certainly one of the most surprising and energetic films you will likely see this year. DVD ownership is a must and even more amazing is the fact that this is based on a true story and the events in this film actually happened.

Rating:
Summary: Off the beaten tourist track in Rio
Review: I'll bet the Rio de Janeiro Tourist Board isn't mailing out DVDs of this one.

The film opens in the 1960s in a government-built slum for the homeless and poor, the CITY OF GOD, located distant from the city center and off where the tourists and more productive citizens won't notice. The narrator is Rocket, who, at about ten years of age, watches as his older brother, Shaggy, becomes one of a celebrated trio of young toughs who spend their days robbing natural gas delivery trucks. Shaggy is ultimately murdered by the criminally ambitious L'il Dice, an even younger boy, perhaps 8 years old, who has a lust for killing and power.

The film jumps forward into the 1970s. L'il Dice is now the vicious L'il Ze (Firmino da Hora), who, with his gang of hoodlums, has taken virtual control of the City of God's narcotics distribution by killing off all the other capos. His only rival still in power is Carrot (Matheus Nachtergaele). The older Rocket, now played by Alexandre Rodrigues, remains the observer that guides the viewer through the escalating gang rivalry. By the time Rocket gets a job with a Rio de Janeiro daily rag, Carrot and L'il Ze and their respective followers are engaged in an all-out war with enough sophisticated firepower to make the NRA drool.

There's no hero in the CITY OF GOD to ride in and set things right. There are only Bad Guys, innocent bystanders, and observers. The bloodletting is pervasive and casual. About three quarters of the way through, I facetiously mentioned to my wife that I should've kept a corpse count from the start; I haven't seen so many dead bodies since WE WERE SOLDIERS.

The point of the film, I gather, is to show how a culture of violence and crime, passed down from generation to generation, takes root in a marginalized population left to fester beyond the ken and sight of the mainstream citizenry. And the police hardly bother unless it doesn't get its cut of the take or the chaos comes to the attention of the popular press. Otherwise, it's everybody for himself and the devil take the hindmost.

CITY OF GOD is a gritty, and visually arresting piece. At over two hours, however, the violence, violence, and more violence without anyone to really cheer for becomes numbing, so I'm only awarding 4 stars instead of 5. And it's not entertainment in the "let's go to a flicks, crunch some popcorn, and have a few laughs" sense. The film is more instructive than anything else, and may cause social activists in the audience to wring their hands, jump into the SUV, and go demonstrate against whatever poverty-driven social injustice is currently faddish. The more indifferent will perhaps just give thanks not to be living in a Third World cesspit, jump into the SUV, and go have pizza. (Hmmm, am I in the mood for pepperoni or the combo?)

Considering L'il Ze's genesis as a gangster, the film's conclusion is both poetically just and ironic, and worth the time spent witness to the slaughter. The ending credits claim the story is based on true events.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Movie....A Must See
Review: Being that someone who has seen Rio De Janeiro, this movie truly captures the essence of the favelas, the true "ghettos", that make any of the projects in the U.S. look like 5th Avenue in comparison. The acting is top notch, and Meireilles and Lund dont hold back in showing the world about hopeless poverty and the crime that it produces. Of course, there are countless analogies and theories associated with this movie, but if you want grittiness, truth and a good night, a movie that you will remember, watch (as they say in Rio D.....Ciudad De Deus)

Rating:
Summary: Take the word of a Brasileiro (Brazilian)...
Review: ... so take my word ... this movie is the first of our new cinema breed. Cidade de Deus (city of god) had a cast of new actors, mostly from the actual slum the movie was shot, and a few of the brasilian known actors who embraced the moment we're having now.

Other movies such as CARANDIRÚ is a must see in the same style as Cidade de Deus (Carandirú is the name of a jail in RIO and it tells a little about the prisioner's lives, the jail doctor who wrote the book and the bloody result of a police incursion when a riot took place).

... so take a word of a BRASILEIRO ... other movies than Cidade de Deus already came, and other is to come.

Rating:
Summary: City of God
Review: This movie was moving, explosive, fascinating and riveting. I could not believe the raw and gritty reality of the lives of these people and the Brazillian ghetto where everything takes place. The film deserves an award of the highest caliber for its honesty, style, and purity. I absolutely recommend it to documentary lovers and truth seekers alike.

Rating:
Summary: Very realistic ....
Review: This movie tells the story of three kids who grow up in a slum area of Rio de Janeiro. Hopefully viewers won't think that all slums are this violent but certainly there are some that are gang and drug infested. This movie shocked many middle-class Brazilians who never venture into the slum areas known as favelas. The movie also shows in a covert way how racism still exist in Brazil even though Brazilians prefer to call it class discrimination. The movie is well shot, the music is great and the acting if first rate. Add to that a good unpredictable storyline and it's easy to see how viewers will be glued to the screen.

Rating:
Summary: This is one of the best movies I have ever seen!
Review: This movie, to use a cliche, had me on the edge of my seat. I have been waiting for the DVD since last year. After a depressing day teaching, I forgot all my troubles when I watched this highly engrossing movie. I highly recommend this movie to everyone!

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I have seen City of God a lot of times and this is indeed one of the greatest Brazilian movies ever. Not only for its interesting story but also for giving a unique chance for so many talented young actors, Fernando Meirelles showed us the quality of a real Director, using the fiction and the reality of the 'favelas' in big cities.
I am so glad that the movie will be available on Dec. 2nd, 2003, so then lots of people will at least have the option to get it and watch it once we don't give the right value to foreign movies in this country.
If you get to watch it, I can tell you that it is nothing like the movies we are used to in the US. We should learn to appreciate foreign movies better, because many times they show a much better quality than the movies we have here.
Cidade de Deus is for SURE the best movie in years!!!