Blood and Mud Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (30 March 2003)

Never in the history of cinema the favelas assumed the real place they earned as a melting pot of cinematic value. Ultimately, Fernando Meirelles understood that it was time to fill the gap, and, corageously, moved forward into the excruciating experience that would be the making of a movie about them. When you see this movie, you'll thank him in silence. Because Meirelles' movie grabs this world-within-a-world with rare boldness, and makes it much more than a simple "south american goodfellas" like someone called it. "Cidade de Deus" is a view-changing experience, for it is the first time the audience leaps deep into the schemes, the violence, the blood and the mud. And your vision of the street gang violence in Rio de Janeiro will never be the same. Magnificently acted (and don't forget these were all people from the real ghetto), brilliantly framed and graspingly edited, this movie's real triumph is letting us know what goes inside the places we never dare to get into. And succeeds in doing so with the touch of genius. With immense production values, it is amazing how the movie never gets too heavy or too epic, and you'll marvel at the way realism is the motto here, while the film never has pretentions of becoming a mockumentary. This movie's got heart, and real guts. And it ends up becoming the film about the favelas no one ever dared to do. So you'll thank director Meirelles - rarely there has been such courage from a movie maker.