What Great Filmmaking is all about

Rating: Null/10 (5 February 2004)

I went to see "City of God" simply because it had gotten 4 oscar nominations (I write this 3 weeks before Oscar time). I didn't know what it was about. A sappy Brazilian romance? A religious film?
This is one of the best gangster movies ever made, it ranks up with "Goodfellas", which is no small thing. From the open scene until the close, it is unpredictable, scary, exciting, thrilling, and above all, truthful. It takes you into the world of Bralilian urban poverty, and shows the randomness of sudden death that can happen to anyone, especially if you're dirt poor. This great movie brings home the fact that hundreds of millions of people around the world (billions?) live in this kind of urban jungle dominated by crime and viciousness, where only a few people (the film's protagonist Buscapé) ever find a way out. The people who live in Cidade de Deus are living in a world of unfettered, unregulated capitalism where the only rational goals are maximizing one's wealth and power, without any thought for the future or for other people. This movie will blow you away with its truth and honesty. See it, see it, see it!