Has there been a better foreign film?

Rating: 10/10 (21 June 2004)

Wow.. this film is a real knockout. 'boys in the hood' meets 'once were warriors'.... but on the harsh brazen and always brash streets of 1960's Rio De Janeiro.
The main ( narrator ) character 'Rocket' does a brilliant job surviving the ultra violent streets of "the city of God" an urban slum designed to segregate the extreme lower class from the rest of the world. The characters are so realistic and at the same time so disturbing. Li'l Ze is a frightening drug lord who you grow to hate, yet are constantly drawn in to.
The cinematography is crisp , the story is excellent and set at a frenetic pace. The fact that it is based on a true story makes it all the more powerful. 9.5/10