City of God

Rating: 8/10 (7 October 2019)

City of God is a breath taking crime thriller based on the true events in the slums of Rio de Janeiro in the 1960s, through to the 1980s. The storyline follows the life of the character Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues and Luis Otavio), who is unintentionally involved in this moralless society trying to fulfil his dream and passion of being a photographer.
The use of the variety of camera angels and shots related back to why rocket wanted to be a photographer. My favorite scenes from this film is the hand-hand shots because they bring personal character to the film. Different to most action and crime films, through all the violence there was a meaningful story which allowed you to sympathise for the characters who had suffered tragedy. A scene that really stood out to me as outstanding mis-en-scene was Benny's death. The use of strobe lighting to create confusion was a key part of the shot because neither the audience or characters knew who shot Benny. This film highlights real life problems of street crime and police corruption throughout Brazil, as well as, the entire world.
I would give this film an 8/10 rating. I really enjoyed the cinematography by Caesar Charlone, however it was very longwinded with the constant violence.