Cidade de Deus

Rating: 10/10 (14 October 2009)

Many movies try to recreate the real world, giving us a "true" story that's supposed to be gripping, gritty, and scary but never completely accomplishing the goal. Other times we get movies that would appear to give us what we were expecting if it weren't for the fact that they've been done over and over again. In 2002, though, Fernando Meirelles gave us a new story that showed us a new world. Focusing on the true story of Rocket as he grows up around the gangs in Cidade de Deus, a neighborhood in Rio de Janiero where gangs of children ran free to rob, loot, and deal drugs, City of God feels more like a documentary than a dramatic theatrical film.
Narrated by Rocket (Alexandre Rodriguez), City of God begins with the story of the Tender Trio. The Tender Trio, a teenage gang that pretty much ran Cidade de Deus in the 60's which also included Rocket's brother Goose, robbed gas trucks at gun point, stealing the money and giving the propane to the people around them. They never made much off the money, so a young hanger on named Li'l Dice gave them the idea to rob the rich in a local hotel. Things don't go quite as planned and everyone in the hotel ends up dead, with the Tender Trio hunted by the police. Fast forward to the 70's and Li'l Dice, now Li'l Ze, is the most respected hood in Cidade de Deus. Having killed all the members of the hotel in the 60's robbery, and Goose, Rocket's brother after that, he got a taste of blood. As Rocket tries to avoid him, Li'l Ze kills off all the drug dealers in Cidade de Deus making way for him to be the only hookup in the slums. But, as he gains control of the slums, he kills the family of one man who is going to try his damnedest to take him down.
City of God is a gangster movie through and through, but while you might see some things that remind you of other gangster movies you never feel that this movie is being derivative. The director does borrow things from, say, Martin Scorsese (e.g.: the talk of how drug dealing works in the slums reminded me of Casino), Meirelles always makes it his own. And while the movie is a gangster movie and does deal with a gangster making his way up the chain and ruling the crime world in a neighborhood, the movie never feels like it's taking the usual route, giving equal time to the rise of the Li'l Ze and to Rocket's venture in becoming a photojournalist and staying out of the crime world.
The film looks absolutely amazing. The cinematography gives everything the feel of being in the sun drenched City in Rio de Janeiro. On top of that, the camera moves gives the film a sense of urgency and a certain freshness that makes everything feel that much more real. The writing reminds me a bit of Quentin Tarantino, it's a bit all over the place, but in a good way. As you meet a character that's important to the story your whisked away into the world of who they were before they entered into the story. It works in much the same way as Tarantino's ADD addled films, but never takes away from the story as it has in other films that have tried to copy the "Tarantino Method" so to speak.
While all of that works to make an amazingly gripping film, there would be nothing without the actors. Typically, in my reviews, I would prefer to point out great performances, but in this movie that's nigh impossible. From the Runts (young groups of children who loot and rob people and businesses in the slums) to the main characters, everyone works as a team player. The point is that they're performances are so genuine, so unique, that everyone feels like the live and breathe in this world. When watching this movie you feel like you are visiting Cidade de Deus, and that's what you really want from this type of movie.
In this movie I can see no bad, but there are things that you should know before you watch the movie. The majority of the violence is dealing with children and teens, which makes the violence more frightening and disturbing. Meirelles doesn't shy away from anything, even murdering a six to eight year old child. One of the great things about the way the violence is handled though, is that you never want the violence to happen, you always feel disturbed by the violence that does happen and prefer to stay away from it as the movie goes on (the way it really should be in movies). The movie is in Portuguese so you will have to read subtitles, but I have to say, if you choose to do so, you'll be rewarded by the story you receive. I highly recommend this movie to anyone, and everyone!