City of God
Directed by Fernando Meirelles

Starring: Matheus Nachtergaele, Seu Jorge, Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora
Running Time: 2:10
Country: Brazil
Year: 2003


City of God tells the gritty tale of children of a Rio de Janeiro favela, or slum, coming to terms with their harsh environment over a 20+ year period. In a scorching debut, director Fernando Meirelles doesn't create a world of crime, poverty, corruption and inevitable tragedy. Instead he takes us into the back alleys of cruel reality, a world that the camera cannot avoid and hits head on.

City of God, like the cycle of violence it portrays, goes full circle. In the mesmerizing opening scene we see youth chasing a runaway chicken down the street to the beat of pounding music. We meet Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), who suddenly finds himself surrounded by cops on one side and a gang on the other. All are heavily armed. How did it come to this? In a creative move, the "Matrix" shot stops time and circles Rocket. Suddenly he's a young boy playing soccer on a dirt field. It's the 60's and this is how City of God came to be.

Through Rocket's eyes, we see how the slum was born when the poor were moved to the city's outskirts. The forced isolation and poverty led to petty crimes and robbing the trucks that came through on the dirt roads. It's all somewhat harmless until unexpected, vicious murders are committed in a brothel by Lil Dice, the youngest member of a gang. The page is turned, drugs and weapons are introduced and Lil Dice becomes Lil Ze (Leandro Firmino da Hora), the reigning godfather. Like any Mafia film, you know how this is bound to end. And because this is the City of God, you also know someone is waiting in the wings to take power.

Police corruption, drugs, violence and gang wars are explored in this Brazilian epic. Over time, small time robberies lead to savage murders, drugs, weapons, revenge and all-out war. In one humorous but unsettling sequence, the history of an apartment is told. What started off as a little old lady selling weed on the side turned into a cocaine den and axis of operation. The king of the drug hill is constantly fending off the wolves hungry for a piece of the action. And because life has no value in and of itself, to ask to be spared is simply ludicrous. The human cost of poverty cannot be ignored, as the incentive to join a gang in City of God is much like it is in every other city in the world: a sense of belonging, working up a hierarchy, loyalty, at least temporary protection and the opportunity to make more than anyone else in a neighborhood surviving on peanuts.

In the middle of this craziness we see Rocket attempting to win a girl's heart, sometimes getting high, enjoying the beach and trying halfheartedly to become a gangster. He can't hold up a store because the girl is too cute and can't hold up the bus driver because he's always been so nice to him. He's obviously the observer and as the photographer, he can't necessarily make things better. He's no hero, just someone trying to survive...