great movie made with a low budget

Rating: Null/10 (21 October 2004)

Why can't Hollywood get it right with all these big budget movies, when a small film like this does it the right way. First, the script was great as well as the cinematography. It's no wonder those things as well as the director got nominated for so many awards. It's a wonder it didn't win for best foreign film. The movie was based on real events about a boy named Rocket who lives in the slums of Rio. Many kids there turn to a life a crime and he witnesses all of it. Two warring gangs take over the streets. He gets the opportunity to take pictures of it and gets them in the newspaper. At the end it tells us he won awards for the pictures he took, including a death picture of the boss of the City of God.
Just the way the story was told and how we are introduced to the characters is what really makes this film great. It could have easily been confusing, but all the flashbacks as to how some of the kids became hoodlums was well written and made sense. And it was something to learn how Rocket's older brother, Goose, was killed, but still Rocket managed to stay out of the gangs.
FINAL VERDICT: The subtitles are easy to follow and don't hinder the enjoyment of this movie. I highly recommend it. It reminded me a lot of Blackhawk Down.