Well acted and well shot, but not as emotive as it claims

Rating: 6/10 (24 April 2004)

I knew this was a powerful tale of despair in amongst violence, and that it was a very well received piece.
It's the tale of Rocket, a young boy who grows up in the slums in the City of God, and who witnesses at first hand the full extent of conflict.
In the City of God, violence is a cancer which spreads and engulfs its host, and no one can escape from it unless they are very, very lucky.
Rocket's love of photography may just be his passport out, but with the city under the iron fist of Li'l Ze, a gang leader with a totalitarian control of the city, realising his dreams may not be easy, or indeed possible at all.
There are many, many characters in City of God, and each of them get a significant amount of screentime which gives the movie a depth few others can achieve due to the effective grittiness of how their respective stories are told.
The main problem I have with this story is that somehow it fails to really suck you in. A movie like this relies on drawing emotion from the viewer, and having a genuine view of each character be it hate, love, empathy, or sympathy.
In City of God, too few characters achieve this.
I found myself having feelings only about Li'l Ze and Knockout Ned. The likes of Benny, Shaggy, Carrot and the main protagonist Rocket drew very little from me.
It took until about an hour and a half in before I felt truly part of the story which, for me, is too long.
Putting this flaw aside, City of God is a very well told movie, which uses effective direction. It's just a pity I felt like I was watching events from afar rather than right inside.