AN ENORMOUSLY EFFECTIVE INDICTMENT OF POVERTY

Rating: 10/10 (24 June 2004)

I was rather surprised by some of the negative reviews about this
absolutely masterful film. I didn't get the connection to GoodFellas
because while those guys grew up together, they are older when
we meet them, and their economic environment is very middle-class as opposed to the flavelas of Rio where the grinding
poverty is soul-destroying.
The corruption that infects all levels of Rio society is sickening
from the drug and gun dealers to the crooked police and even the
cynical media. The scene about the violence in the City of God has
become so bad, that the media is now reporting on it, therefore
forcing the police to do something, left me slack-jawed. This kind
of insane lawlessness has to be answered.
In the end, this is a movie with a message of grim hope,
astonishing as Rocket has begun to fulfill his dream of becoming
a photographer. No such luck falls to Ned whose dreams are
completely destroyed by the horrible violence of the flavelas with
their drugs and their indifference to violence. Any movie that
shows children wielding guns as though they are toys should be
a wake-up call. It shows how our own indifference to children's
needs for a good education, loving families, and healthcare is just
another step in wrong direction of their futures.
A though-provoking film that is also riveting in its intensity. Please
see it.