One of the most brilliant and disturbing films I 've ever seen

Rating: 10/10 (24 January 2005)

"Cidade de Deus" (City of God)is the story of how children who "live" in one of the forgotten towns near Rio, have no other choice but to resort to drugs, guns and the realization that they can not expect to even hope for a real life.
It is a grim, intense, disturbing and emotionally draining film, made all the more upsetting by the fact that it is based on a true story. It is all the more impressive when considering that the majority of children who "act" in this film are amateurs, and many of them actually come from the town depicted in the film.
Director Fernando Meirelles creates an air of desperation and despair right from the first frame. The film tells the story of how gangs, violent gangs are a way of everyday life for those who live in the town. Children, no older than 8 - 10 are used to commit murder, and be murdered everyday.
Meirelles does not spare us the details of these child murders either. He wants us to see all of the viciousness that these children experience everyday. One scene in particular, where a gang leader shoots two children from a competing gang in the foot, then has one of his child gang members kill one of them, is one of the most disturbing scenes I've ever seen in the movies.
I don't want to go into anymore details, but it is clear that this movie is well worth the ratings that it has received on this board. I wish that it received the type of praise and rewards that it deserved at the time of its initial release. How it could not have won or even been nominated for best foreign language film, is beyond me.
Go, rent this film. It is a masterpiece that deserves to be seen.
10 out of 10