City of God

Rating: 9/10 (17 October 2016)

Fernando Meirelles' City of God (2002), is a remarkable representation of the slums in Rio de Janeiro during the 1960s through the 1970s. This film walks you through the life of Rocket, an aspiring photographer, who lives in the City of God and faces danger every day of his life. Throughout this film, Rocket tells the stories of the many different people who lived in the City of God and their journey which lead to their ultimate death or survival. This film captures the violence occurring not only through the presentation of deaths caught on camera, but by the fearful screaming, crying, and begging of lives. Where hearing the loud and painful sounds of guns being fired off and seeing bloody, mutilated bodies lying on the street is just another ordinary day. The setting of this film and the mise-en-scene allows the viewer to understand the struggles that the townsman live through, the rundown town, and the fight to stay alive. This film starts with the ending by utilizing a freeze frame then flashes back to how it all began leading up to the current situation.
The film utilizes dolly shots, tilts, and panoramic shots in order to capture the hoodlum's journey during situations which they are attacking or escaping and allows the viewer the opportunity to visualize what the city looks like and the conditions which they are imprisoned within.
As this film progresses the cycle never ends. As young kids grow up in the City of God, they learn that in order to survive and potentially get out of the slums, criminal behavior is their only saving grace. Selling drugs, causing hold ups in local businesses, and killing rival gang members and innocent people. But who can you trust? Can you trust the police? Can you trust your closest friends? Can you even trust your family? This film portrays that even though the people around you may seem harmless, the only person you can count on is yourself. But do you really know yourself and your capabilities? What will tomorrow bring? Will you even live to see tomorrow?