Brilliant

Rating: Null/10 (20 November 2004)

This is a brilliant though deeply disturbing film. Certainly not for the squeamish or faint-of- heart, this movie has several scenes that can quite literally turn your stomach.
That said, the movie explores deeply the lives of several children as the turn into very young men and grow to become the drug lords of the City of God, and appalling violent super slums of Rio de Janeiro. The character details are immense and detailedly told and the use of different and multiple camera angles is a technical triumph. While most films use flashbacks in a confused and inappropriate manner, this film manages, somehow, to weave them in the exact right time to explain and give further detail to people and situations without taking away the mood of the moment.
Highly, highly recommend, but be warned, the explicit violence, most involving children may be far too much for many viewers.