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Movie: City Of God (Cidade De Deus)
Directed By Fernando Meirelles; Written By Braulio Mantovani
Starring Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino Da Hora (Miramax)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes
This is a riveting Brazilian production about gang wars that is set in one of Rio De Janeiro's worst slums, a tract of government built shacks called City Of God. City Of God makes American slums look like a day at the beach. They don't even have electricity or paved roads there. This city is beyond poverty-stricken. The one thing they seem to have a lot of is guns.
Based on a true story, the main character is a young man named Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues). On the movie's poster Rocket is shown sitting with his girlfriend, Angela (Roberta Rodriguez Silvia), at the beach, but while there are some touching moments between them, that's only a very small part of the movie. Mostly Rocket narrates the story of the gang members he grew up with and how he was able to make his way out of the slums by photographing their wars in the early 80's.
The other main character is a dangerous thug named Little Ze who is City of God's version of Scarface. Totally sociopathic even as a young boy, he murders early and often, including Rocket's brother, Shaggy. Eventually he becomes a drug lord in a section of Rio, in competition with Carrot (Matheus Nachtergaele), and eventually an army veteran, Knockout Ned (Seu Jorge).
Filmed on the actual streets of Rio and first released in 2002, City Of God shows us a lousy crime-ridden life that much of the third world endures but few Americans have seen. It has an immediacy rather like combat footage, but looks are deceptive. In spite of its low budget feel, Director Fernando Meirelles has put a lot of subtle craft into the production and pulls commanding performances out of a crew of actors that includes lots of young kids and other non-professionals. There must have been a lot of choreography done for the various fights to cover them all from several angles and what must have been several takes, but the rag tag cast seems completely natural with it all. Convincing doesn't begin to describe it; my stomach knotted up like the first time I saw Saving Private Ryan. City Of God presents a ferocious authenticity that will revolt and scare many viewers, but you can't look away.
The Skinny:
Am I glad I saw the film? Definitely, and I'm sure glad I don't live there too.
Would I go to see it again? It's depressing but more than worth a second viewing.
© 2004 - Rusty Pipes