Too slick for its own good

Rating: 1/10 (25 January 2005)

Though a lot of people and critics have praised this Brazilian movie, I have to say that I did not like it at all. The story is bleak & serious and yet it's filmed like a GAP commercial, with a lot of stylish editing, camera movements (like the annoying 360 degrees one) and direction, which totally belies the story's tragic intent.
The film is more of a showcase of the director's repertoire of movie tricks than of actual characters going through a hellish life. In the end, the effect is jarring and at times really off putting. There are a lot of gratuitous moments in it that serve no purpose but to shock or titillate the audience (the housewife and the banana bit, for example).
OUR LADY OF THE ASSASSINS was much better than this and created an unforgettable experience without all the flashy razzle dazzle.
CITY OF GOD is just another overpraised foreign movie.