City of God
I watched this movie last weekend. My roommate picked that movie via my Netflix. So I watched it thoroughly. I was like wow. That is how it was like in Brazil. Kids had guns. They did drugs at the youngest age. They were on loose everywhere.
At the beginning, you will see children playing ball..in 1960’s. They were the kids growing up having a hard life. Some sold drugs. Some loved killing, with no remorse. Some are good guys. One guy I like was Rocket, who wanted to be a photographer. He was a good guy. He tried to live a good life as he could.
The movie has a good content and organization. It links to the history on every one in the movie, how they got involved, how they got there. It is very clear and see where they come from.
Most of the story is very sad. I can see how hard life is in Brazil.
This story is based on a real story.
SYNOPSIS
Youth gangs took over the slums of Rio de Janiero during the 1960s and didn’t relinquish their stronghold until the mid-1980s. Only a sucker wouldn’t have turned to crime and this is exactly how naive teen Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) views himself. His attempts in illegal activity fail as he finds potential victims too friendly. Equally unsuccessful in love, he regularly fails to lose his virginity. Blood spills throughout the streets of the Ciudad de Deus as gang leader Li’l Ze (Leandro Firmino da Hora) is challenged by local druglords and a gang of pre-teens known as theRunts. Rocket shoots all of this action with his weapon of choice, acamera.
Director Fernando Meirelles combines visual flashiness with dark history in telling the story of three decades of unrest in underground Rio de Janiero. Technically flawless, the Brazilian film uses a rapid-cutting style to flash back and forth in time. Cinematographer Cesar Charlone shoots with an overexposed glow in a film that may seem numb to violence, but reveres photography. Director Meirelles was asssisted by Katia Lund, a filmmaker who had previously shot in the Rioghettos.
You can read the movie’s review by critics and real people on Rotten Tomato. The link is here. Under ‘About’ on this site, I gave you, it will tell you what are the errors (what did they make mistakes in movie). Also you can watch the trailer, going here. You click ‘View the Trailer’ on the top of that site.
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Mike Lewis 1:33 pm on September 12, 2006 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I agree – this is a fantastic movie. One of the best foreign films ever in my opinion and does a great job expressing the lawlessness of brazil and the struggle one endures while living in Rio’s poverty. It’s even more amazing that it’s a true story.