City of God (Cidade de Deus) (R)
Cast: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora, Seu Jorge, Alice Braga
Release Date: January 17, 2003
Runtime: 2 hr. 15 mins.
Genre: Drama, Detective
Cidade de Deus (City of God) is a housing project built in the 1960's that--in the early 80's--became one of the most dangerous places in Rio de Janeiro. The tale tells the stories of many characters whose lives sometimes intersect. However, all is seen through the eyes of a singular narrator: Busca-Pé, a poor black youth too frail and scared to become an outlaw, but also too smart to be content with underpaid, menial jobs. He grows up in a very violent environment. The odds are all against him. But Busca-Pé soon discovers that he can see reality differently than others. His redemption is that he's been given an artist's point of view as a keen-eyed photographer. As Busca-Pé is not the real protagonist of the film--only the narrator--he is not the one who makes the decisions that will determine the sequence of events. Nevertheless, not only his life is attached to what happens in the story, but it is also through Busca-Pé's perspective of life that one can understand the complicated layers and humanity of a world, apparently condemned to endless violence.
Review
Based on Paulo Lins' book by the same name, City of God portrays the violent reality of growing up and surviving during the drug wars in a Brazilian housing project called Cidade de Deus, or City of God.
Story
Built in the 1960s, the City of God has by the 1980s become a very dangerous place to live. A lack of opportunities and hope often leads the children of the City of God onto a path of drugs, crime and corruption, and it seems more palatable to many of them to have their 15 minutes of fame and die young than to live a life of misery and submission. But some manage to break the cycle of violence--and the main character and narrator of City of God, Buscapé (Alexandre Rodrigues), is one of them. A poor, black youth who leaves a life of crime behind to become a professional photographer, Buscapé must struggle against the odds to make his way through the violence that surrounds him, shooting pictures instead of people and finding redemption in his artistic vision. As his story unfolds, we meet others in his world: his friend Bene (Phelipe Haagensen), the most popular guy in the slum and a partner in crime to Zé Pequeno (Leandro Firmino), an ambitious and powerful villain who wants to be the slum's drug leader; and Mané Galinha (Seu Jorge), who tries very hard to have a decent life but ultimately gets dragged deep into crime.
Acting
With few exceptions, real slum kids and actors from local amateur drama clubs were cast in City of God, and the result is truly believable characters and a gritty, realistic film. The richness of details, slang and backgrounds are a true portrait of a Brazilian slum, where people live on little more than hope for a better future. Firmino, Rodrigues and Douglas Silva (Dadinho) do a wonderful job of acting out a fiction that is indeed their lived reality.
Direction
Brazil's entry for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award, director Fernando Meirelles' (Domesticas) City of God is seen as a very strong contender for the prize--and well it should be. The quick cuts and fast pace of the editing goes a long way toward visually portraying the violence of the streets, as does the lighting, which evolves over time from the warm colors of the naďve and happy childhood years to the dark, anguished shadows of streets that grow ever more violent. The mosaic of stories in the screenplay also works to bring the various aspects of the slum vividly to life, so that the setting actually becomes a mute character as the drama unfolds.
Bottom Line
Beyond its excellent acting, great screenplay and subtle direction, City of God is a true and important story of violence, drugs and poverty--and the lack of options available to those who live in this world.
Synopsis
Cidade de Deus (City of God) is a housing project built in the 1960's that--in the early 80's--became one of the most dangerous places in Rio de Janeiro. The tale tells the stories of many characters whose lives sometimes intersect. However, all is seen through the eyes of a singular narrator: Busca-Pé, a poor black youth too frail and scared to become an outlaw, but also too smart to be content with underpaid, menial jobs. He grows up in a very violent environment. The odds are all against him. But Busca-Pé soon discovers that he can see reality differently than others. His redemption is that he's been given an artist's point of view as a keen-eyed photographer. As Busca-Pé is not the real protagonist of the film--only the narrator--he is not the one who makes the decisions that will determine the sequence of events. Nevertheless, not only his life is attached to what happens in the story, but it is also through Busca-Pé's perspective of life that one can understand the complicated layers and humanity of a world, apparently condemned to endless violence.