Eye Opener

Rating: 10/10 (17 October 2016)

**Spoilers Ahead**
"Why return to the City of God, where God forgets about you?"
Director Fernando Meirelles﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ brings a whole new topic to the table, and makes one wonder; what's really going on in the world around us? Deus shows us one point of view out in Brazil. He shows us what it's like out in the everyday streets of Brazil and shows the story of how hard it is to make something of oneself in being born in the slums. The City of God during this time was corrupt with gangs, drugs, and violence. Most kids were getting involved with these things at a very early age, giving a negative sense of hope to those who wanted out. The City of God shows many different stories of what people from the slums deal with. Most of these characters have the same idea of wanting to leave and become something, but seem to be brought right back into the drug and gang life because it seemed to be the easiest way to make a profit. Mainly, the film focuses on Rocket, who's looking to escape the hazardous area, and Lil Ze, who falls into the drug and gang life and ends up becoming quite successful at it. Meirelles does a great job on showing two completely different viewpoints. Following Rocket, we see a young boy who truly wants to get out of the slums and make something of himself (photographer). Throughout the movie we see the impact of drugs and gangs and how hard it is to be able to be successful. With the right mindset though, one can get out, they just need to face many life challenges. The other side, we see Lil Ze start off early in the drug and gang life. We learn early on how easy it is for young kids to become involved because that's who the gang targeted. With easy access to guns, gangs fought it out between one another to gain control over lands. Drugs were used greatly to gain "easy" profit.
Along with showing two sides, comes the idea of how it's presented. Meirelles uses a lot of tracking shots throughout the movie. Using these shots showed us how far one would really go. For example, the robberies used tracking shots of the boys and this showed the length of time and distance these gangs/boys would go to make a quick buck. The gang wars that were shot were tough to sit through. Seeing young kids getting killed over something they're too young to really know about were heart breaking, but also made viewers realize how far these gangs were willing to go over drugs and territories. Most of the time, the director used close up shots, especially when one was just shot, showing the pain these characters witnessed.