Solid little crime flick

Rating: 6/10 (25 December 2015)

"Cidade de Deus" is a Brazilian movie that is set in the slums of the same country. We follow two brothers over the years and their lives develop completely differently. It is a world of crime, drugs, desperation, but also a world of hope for a better future. We find out about their involvement with gangs, with girls and also about their hobbies in general. One big hobby of one of them is photography and it may shape the path to the better future I just mentioned. The film runs for over 2 hours and was directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund. Bráulio Mantovani adapted Paulo Lins' novel and the result may be Brazil's most famous film of all time.
This one scored 4 Academy Award nominations and won a BAFTA for its editing back over 10 years ago. I personally felt it was a pretty decent watch. I cannot see the real greatness that catapulted this movie into the top25 highest rated movies of all time on IMDb, but it's not a bad film either. There are 2 or 3 moments of greatness, but the rest is merely good. Sometimes, it even drags a bit, which is why I believe this film could have been kept down to 100 minutes without losing anything truly significant that would have hurt the overall movie. My favorite scene was probably the one in the club with all the hectic lights and actions and one guy taking out his gun which results pretty much in a catastrophe. Very intense moment. I wish there could have been more moments like these. Still, as a whole, I recommend the watch. Pretty good movie for the most part.