Great acting, story, and cinematography.

Rating: 8/10 (1 November 2015)

Based on a true favela (slum) named 'City of God' in Rio, the film does a great job at creating a realistic looking depiction of the life there. A little trivia: The location in which they filmed at was a neighbouring favela, as the actual favela was too dangerous to film in. Another trivia: Filmmakers actually recruited children from the favela to produce an authentic feel for the movie. Based on this fact, it is deeply disconcerting that these children are able to act out violet scenes so well, as if they already possessed the persona of their characters. The acting overall is very realistic, and the whole cast does a fantastic job, probably because they have been exposed to this reality all their life.
The story was set in a unique way, with many flashbacks and initial introductions. That slightly annoyed me, when they would introduce a new character and then say that it wasn't time for his story yet. But it was interesting to have so many characters in the film, as it was used in a way to cover more aspects of the favelas. The introduction of so many characters and how they changed could also be a way to generalize these characters, as a way of saying that these characters can be found in any slum (Felicia Chan, and Valentina Vitali). However because Rocket is the narrator, it does come into question how he gains knowledge of the events that unfold to these characters when he isn't present.
The cinematography and editing does well to complement the authenticity of the film. With its fast pace and well planned shots, the film right from the beginning establishes the action, fear and danger of what is to come. The explicit brutality of violence is not hidden and for this film and what they wanted to depict, it is probably necessary. However, I am not sure if is accurate in its representation of violence and the drug circle as it does seem excessive.
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