City of God

Star Review

City of God, directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund is about life inside a "favela" (government housing project) on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro where the Brazilian government dumped undesirables and homeless in the 1960s. The film is based on real events described in a novel by Paulo Lins, who lived in the project for thirty years and spent ten years researching the events. It is an unsparing portrait of a sociopathic generation, where manhood is determined by who can kill the most. The film traces the favela's history over the span of three decades, showing how its children first became petty thieves, then drug dealers, and finally cold-blooded murderers. Narrated by Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), who survived the gang warfare and has since become a photographer for a local newspaper, the film is divided into chapters, each depicting different characters and time periods and each extending the violence until it reaches manic proportions.

City of God is essentially a horror story that hits you with a punch to the solar plexus. It is a very powerful film that deserves praise for its honesty in tackling an issue most of us would rather avoid. In the process, it has uncovered the natural raw energy of children, with no place to use it except in self-destruction. It leaves me to wonder how this energy could be harnessed against a system that encourages and perpetuates this cycle of violence.

Howard Schuman on 20th June 2003

View all 10 of Howard Schuman’s reviews

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Film Description

Perhaps the most exhilirating film of 2003, and one which takes street crime in the shantytowns of Rio as its subject. The slum is the battleground between rival gangs and corrupt cops. It's a story served up with passion and energy but which is also full of social and political insights.

[ Show Star Review ]

From the point of view of a lover of world cinema this film is defiantly one of the most influential films within the last decade.
The combination of brutal social... more >

From the point of view of a lover of world cinema this film is defiantly one of the most influential films within the last decade.
The combination of brutal social realism, emotional casting and expert direction allows for a real insight into the life's lead within one of the most notorious fevelas in the world.
The film keeps the viewers attention with a spiralling story line and superb acting from a young and generally unheard of cast. The story follows two generations of gang members within the “slum” and the effects that they and the integration of drug culture have had upon both individuals and the community as a whole. As the film is based upon a true story, it gives an honest view of Life within the “City of God” which can at some points be unbelievable to the more privileged viewer.
Amazing cinematography is used throughout the film, reinforcing to the viewer that motion picture can be one of the most beautiful forms of art work.
Within this film Fernando Meirelles has proved himself to be one of the best story tellers and artists in the industry. < less

View all 2 of Thomas Swailes’s reviews

City of God opens with a young couple sat on a glorious sun-drenched beach, their backs to the camera, and the vast ocean, like their lives seems to stretch endlessly ... more >

City of God opens with a young couple sat on a glorious sun-drenched beach, their backs to the camera, and the vast ocean, like their lives seems to stretch endlessly before them. This serene image is the precursor to a much more brutal depiction of the three decades of gang violence in Rio de Janeiro's poorest neighbourhoods.



The story revolves around the life of the narrator 'Rocket' and his friends, charting their maturation from the 1960s and through to the drug addled 80s. Constructed as a series of short stories the film focuses on a group of interrelated figures from the narrator's memory. These sojourns into the bleak world of Rocket's upbringing take us into the darkest slums and drug dens to the beaches and office blocks of the respectable Rio de Janeiro.



It is a film that excels in its presentation. A virtuoso display of visual pyrotechnics and editing flair manages not to detract from the emotional aspects of the narrative. Delving deep into the daily trauma and fears suffered by the protagonists, the bleak hierarchies of power, race, and desire that shape their lives, the 'City of God' influences them all. It's an experience at once painfully specific and in turn tragically universal. < less

View all 10 of Matt Buckland’s reviews

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DVD Extras

• 57-minute documentary "News of a Private War" by co-director Katia Lund.

Film Details

Cast

Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora

Technical Details