City of God

Rating: 6/10 (22 December 2003)

Some people have complained of the "Hollywood treatment" this story (inspired by real events) received, and it can't be denied that most of its stylistic flourishes resembles senseless action films. Somehow, though, the violence depicted in the movie has no ultimate sense, no other purpose than to follow the flow of daily life in the slums of Brazil, even more when it has been decided to disconnect the events from the social and economic structures of the Brazilian society. (Compare this movie with Héctor Babenco's "Pixote", and you'll see the difference.) It is obvious that some persons who are not aware of those conditions may find the images too raw or blame them on the characters' psychopath behavior. But then (I hope) neither we find reasons for the behavior of Quentin Tarantino's or John Woo's characters only on individual psychological terms. In the end, it's such a harsh reality that the cynicism of the filmmakers and all their flashy and effectist resources (like the change of music and the introduction of a strobe light in a party, just before one of the less repulsive young criminals is killed) end buried below the piles of dead bodies of Brazilian children and adolescents.