A Modern Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (5 March 2007)

Picture this: You are slowly walking towards a boy no more than 10 years of age  someone you have played soccer games with and joked around with. The boy reaches down with his hand, brings a gun back up, and pumps you full of bullets. In the multiple Academy Award nominee City of God, not only does this happen, but it does not even come as a surprise. This Brazilian epic takes the iconic movies of the '90s and creates an intense blend that utilizes the fractured structure from Pulp Fiction, the hard-hitting style of Requiem for a Dream, and the ambitious storytelling of Goodfellas. The oddity here is not that director Fernando Meirelles mixes parts from these films together, but rather that in doing so, he has created a modern masterpiece that will surely be remembered as one of the defining films for the millennium decade. Taking place during the 1960s and into the 1970s, City of God is set in the Brazilian city of the same name. Located close to Rio de Janeiro, the two places could not be more different. Rio de Janeiro, virtually a tropical paradise, contrasts starkly with the seedy slums of the City of God. The structure of the film is almost like a tangled skein  following a loosely chronological order, the movie often doubles back on itself to retell a story from a different perspective and it often takes detours to tell stories of the varied and fascinating individuals in the city. The result is a sprawling tour-de-force with a massive cast of characters  some who triumph over their enemies but more who fail. The film makes use of one of its many characters as the narrator, Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), but he is not so much the protagonist as he is a center for all the stories to meet. As an aspiring photographer that is always on the sidelines, he is the perfect character to take the audience on the journey through the decades. In fact, the main character of City of God is arguably not a person but rather the city itself, portrayed as cruel, relentless, and endlessly bloodthirsty. The closest thing the film has to a main character is Li'l Zé, the brutal and power-hungry man who quickly rises through the ranks (generally by shooting down the competition) to become the czar of the drug underworld. Brilliantly portrayed with wild abandon by Leandro Firmino, Li'l Zé's unpredictable and chaotic nature is counterbalanced by his closest friend, Benny (Phellipe Haagensen), who is like the yang to Li'l Zé's ying. Less temperamental and more relaxed, Benny is considered the coolest gangster alive by residents of the city and can save the lives of many people with a word to Li'l Zé. Stylistically, the film exhausts just about every film-making trick one can think of on the spot: split-screen (used sparsely but effectively); 360-degree camera turns; slam cuts; slow-motion shots  all of these and many more are present in the film. In one instance, the absence of sound during a key scene helps to heighten the impact. In another, a flashing strobe light enhances the haunting quality and atmosphere of the empty nightclub to a startlingly memorable result. City of God is most successful however not because of its stylistic choices, or its many interesting characters, or its score (which is also impressive). All of these contribute to the making of a great film, but what elevates City of God to the level of artistry that only a handful of films such as Schindler's List and The Shawshank Redemption achieve is its uncompromising screenplay. Not only is the structure brilliantly conceived and not only are the characters extraordinary well developed, but the screenplay is also able to bring in a sense of the never-ending and continuous cycles of war without ever trying to moralize. Simply put, the film is a window into a world, not a path, and it simply views rather than changes. In this way, what the audience sees in that small window shakes them to the core without any feelings of manipulation whatsoever. In a film in which despair and brutality are so common, the irony of the title is not lost. City of God is a masterpiece in every sense of the word  a stunning and merciless film that portrays the era, the people, and the sense of hopelessness honestly and without compromise. I would not have it any other way.