Tough movie

Rating: 8/10 (6 February 2006)

Very tough movie portraying the lives of kids/teenagers in one of Rio's favelas. What I liked most about the movie is the way in which it is told, through the eyes of one of the kids who manages to escape the harsh reality of the favela. I also like the flashback following the opening scene in which a group of kids tries to catch an escaped rooster. The freeze-frame shots are very nice as well. It is a very fast paced movie and sometimes it is hard to keep track of all that is happening especially because the movie covers a couple of decades. I saw this movie after visiting Rocinha in Rio the week before. I did not realize until after having seen the movie that Seu Jorge plays the role of Mane Galinha. He makes beautiful music these days and one of his quotes is really frightening "The other actors were ... curious. They wanted to know if the favelas are really like that. I said unfortunately they're much worse."