perhaps the most amazing movie ever done

Rating: Null/10 (4 June 2005)

This is probably the most amazing movie ever done. Seriously, run and rent this movie- it was in such demand, I had to wait 3-4 months to get it from the library (though now Hollywood Video has unlimited movies for $10/month). No matter what your believe, your faith, your world ; it will blow you away. It's simply stunning- I spent 3½ hours watching a 2:10 hours movie- because I had to stop and watch scenes over again because I couldn't believe what I had seen. This is a great movie, one that bears watching again and again, so you can see all you missed. Watched at normal speed, this has the impact of a shotgun shell to the chest- it's so concentrated and such a potent mix of film-making wizardry that it's overwhelming. It's not for the weak of heart or stomach  one has to accept the casual exchange of bullets and death without crawling in a corner. But, for someone who has moved past that, it is the most impressive thing I've ever seen: the trials and tribulations of a group of Brazilian slum dwellers that will etch itself on your consciousness.
Everything about this movie is brilliant- the film-making, the effects, the story structure, the twists. This thing hooks you and yanks you like a marlin, along with the boat. It is a exultant ride through the poor underworld of Rio de Janeiro and you better just hang on and ride. Again and again this movie swivels and twists, with it's point of view and origin, as participants expire, and one isn't sure who to root for. It will have you laughing, and gasping in horror and recognition of the most basic and base human conditions.
It starts with close-ups of chickens being slaughtered and hunted and the message is clear: one must kill or be killed- you're either the killer or the dinner, and the only job available is robber. The 720° circular pan transition flashback in the beginning where Rocket is caught between the armed gang and police is probably the best of film; this thing is so consummately skillful that it will leave you in the dust like eye-level Indy cars. It's impossible to be too critical of this movie- it yanks you do far out of your fame of reference into the brutal nihilistic world of the Rio de Janeiro favela that you only just marvel and gasp, and accept that it's beyond your understanding. It is the rise and fall, along with many others, of a crime boss, punk, ruthless psycho killer named Little Zee, and a story of salvation- of intelligence and luck- of a photographer Rocket (and his semi-good brah Goose) who makes a life apart from the milieu, but documents it .. and it's all breathtaking. One really doesn't notice that it's subtitled- one so identifies with the characters.
My only objection is that the concrete row houses are light years ahead of actual conditions in the fetid squalid hillside shanty towns that 10 million each live in by Rio, Sao Paulo, Cairo, Mexico City (they show the real places in the 50 minute documentary). The rooster gets away. You won't.