City of God
I've had City of God, or Cidade de Deus to give it it's portuguese title, for well over a year and it's only now that I have gotten round to watching it. I really shouldn't have waited that long.
City of God is based on a true story about the lives of several residents of the City of God, which is a slum in Rio de Janeiro. The story is narrated by Rocket, who grows up amidst all the turmoil and crime, with the hope of one day becoming a photographer. He sees death, murder, drug dealing, and several shootings as he grows from a boy to a young adult.
We are told the stories of several residents, and each one seems to interleave into another. Another of the main characters is called L'il Zé who is a violent and twisted boy who has a craving to kill, which he manages to satisfy at a relatively young age. His desire to rule and become the boss of the City of God provokes him into performing hideous crimes, taking over drug dealer's turf and generally being an evil bastard.
Guns and shootings are plentiful in City of God, as is drug taking. There are also several scenes of violence, so this film is not one for the younger or sensitive viewers.
Watching the film in portuguese I was obviously forced to watch with subtitles which was originally a problem as the camera action is quick and snappy, and there are many hand held type shots which means reading and looking at the same time can be tricky. It was well worth persevering with though. In fact I grew to like the camera work, and at times it is cleverly done to shield you from some of the brutality of what is going on.
I have never really seen the slums of Rio before, and even though I had been told about them by one of my friends who lives in the nice part of Rio, I still found it a bit disturbing to think that people actually lived like this. Also this story is based in fact, and so its worrying to think that this kind of stuff is actually going on in the world.
City of God is another film that took me by surprise. I had heard it was good, I had read it was good, but that is no guarantee of a good film. It is not a good film, it is a masterpiece of a film. Even if I manage to watch no more films in this challenge, I can be happy having seen City of God.
Rating: 10/10
Summary: A shocking real-life story about life and crime in Rio de Janeiro
Memorable moment: [1:56:02] - The leadership of the City of God is violently passed on
Top 100 position: 23
IMDb: Cidade de Deus
Buy it from: Amazon
Films remaining: 80
Remember to update your main list in post one when you do each review
If you look at number 23 in the list you will see I already did.
You need to remember not all films have english titles!!
Whoops heh?!