Moviemaking of a high order

Rating: Null/10 (25 June 2003)

Cidade de Deus is actually a huge favela or slum on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro and this is a nightmare vision that I had no idea of when I visited Rio itself as the start of a South American tour. Originally this was a best-selling novel by Paulo Lins who lived in the area and spent eight years interviewing and researching for his shocking work. Now it is a stunning film which is the first to be directed solely by Fernando Meirelles who is based in São Paolo.
Shown through the eyes of slum-dweller but would-be photographer Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), it portrays the abject poverty and utter hopelessness of a community on the edge of civilised society which breeds a type of gangster that is so young and so brutal that one is both mesmerised and horrified by the sheer casualness with which life is blown away by the ubiquitous handgun.
The subject matter is disturbing enough, but what makes the movie utterly compelling is attention-grabbing style of the film. The unconventional narrative sequence involves a whole series of flash-backs, detours and jumps, while the harsh lighting, jerky camerawork, and rapid cuts - combined with a young, unknown and largely amateur local cast - gives the whole thing the verisimilitude of a documentary. This is moviemaking of the highest order and purpose.