Violent yet insighful!

Rating: 7/10 (7 October 2019)

SPOILER ALERT
Fernando Meirelles' film, City of God, depicts a violent survival of young men in Rio De Janeiro in the 70s. The bloody film features action packed murder due to violent drug crimes from two perspectives, one of the drug leader "Lil Ze" and one from the aspiring photographer Rocket. This film touches on the traps which poverty lays for people born into these slums and how they must be involved in such crimes to stay alive, as getting away is nearly impossible.
The director did an excellent job with the mise-en-scene throughout the film, he opened the filmed the same way he closed the film and sandwiched the stories of each character in the middle. By giving a peak of what was going to happen in the end, it invoked curiosity and forced you on the edge of your seat throughout the film! The role which the photographer played was done phenomenally, he was made out to be almost a shadow most of the time and when he clicked the images, the iris shots of him doing so made the viewer feel as if they were witnessing history in the making!
The sounds and images accompanying each scene where quite fitting and appealing, one remarkable on in particular was the murder of Benny at his going away party. As the strobe lights flashed and pumped up music played, he was in a quarrel with Lil Ze about leaving when his murderer shot his gun and killed Benny instead of Ze. The fast strobe lights showed the parallel of how fast one's life in the slums can be taken no matter your status.
This film was a remarkable recount and representation of history which deserves to be shown. I would definitely recommend watching it if you don't mind some violence.