Favela... A Vicious Cycle

Rating: 10/10 (17 October 2016)

Tom Stingl *SPOILER ALERT* Directors Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund released the movie City of God in 2002 and is now known as one of the greatest foreign films ever made. Especially one coming out of Brazil. The film depicts the life of an average boy growing up in a fa vela and the birth of a tyrannical drug lord. This film utilizes the best out of the thriller, action, and drama genres of film, often times leaving the viewer on the edge of their seat for the majority of the movie and becoming truly emotionally attached to many of the characters.
The time line of the film works perfectly to tell the story, starting in the present time where we meet our main character who appears to be stuck in the crossfire between the police and a group people who appear to be citizens of the city. Just like that the movie sends you back in time to begin telling the story. Throughout the film the fourth wall is broken to explain things to the audience often adding humor to an otherwise serious movie. Throughout this sequence the Drug lord Lil Ze is born and eventually killed at the end of the movie by same kids he brought into his army. The film's final sequence is the children talking about who they need to kill. Starting the vicious cycle of violence in the fa vela all over again.
The acting in this film is truly impeccable and perfectly captures life in the fa vela perfectly. For example, many of the cast were people taken out of City of God such as the main protagonist Alexandre Rodrigues. So, he is able to play his role in the movie so well because he has actually lived this movie. This aspect makes this film so realistic that it is almost impossible to look away, forcing the world to acknowledge the problems of the fa vela, and hopefully is the catalyst for change to end this vicious cycle that is happening in Brazil.