Just... fantastic.

Rating: 10/10 (22 June 2006)

City of God is set in poverty-stricken and corrupt Rio de Janeiro and bravely zooms in on its young citizens in their extremely violent day-to-day circumstances. Some of them are really only just kids. I don't mean kids like "rowdy teens", but actual little children with guns and blood on their hands. It is quite heartbreaking to watch, but very compelling at the same time.
As it follows the life of two childhood friends who take very different paths in life, it is an excellent portrayal of erasthe 60s, 70s and 80scapturing the style, music and way of life of each. Between the two story lines, the director introduces a multitude of violent characters and their lives in Rio through titled segments. Unlike Tarantino's violent segments, they are cohesive.
It is also stunning to see how well the actors performed in their individual parts, especially when I come back here on IMDb and read that they were not even professional actors, but locals recruited specifically for the film. Wow! More praise: I think City of God possibly has the best cinematography I have ever seen in a movie. It had such a unique mix of shotssometimes choppy editing (but not Tony Scott seizure-inducing), 70s TV style images, quick camera movements and other times more drawn out and more "epic" shots. All the while it truly felt as though you were there, but desperately wanted to get away from the madness.
However, it may feel, at times, somewhat like an orgy of drugs and guns or mindless glorification of street violence to appeal to teen audiences.
But then I realised the violence is not gratuitous because City of God is about violence (duh, I know) and it condemns it in many ways, such as making out the protagonist non-violent and aspiring to a better life, and getting us to sympathise with him more than anyone else.