City of God is my first Brazillian movie in my collection. It was directed by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund. I picked it up at random together with Irreversible.
Again, I have never heard of the movie before. I don't keep tab on what's going on in the International movie scene. I wish i could. It'll be good if i could keep tab on all the film festivals that go around the world. I wish someone would be generous enough to pay me to do that.
Anyway, back to the movie. It is not your normal primetime hollywood no brainer. The film is about a kid, called Rocket, an aspiring photographer who eventually not only tell the story of his life but the whole community as well.
Film direction is brilliant. No state-of-the-art computer graphic shit but simple cinematography using loose angles and still shots. Brilliantly done, it keeps up with the pace of the film.
The story goes deep into the slumps of Rio de Janeiro, how a group of kids grew up looting trucks and all. then there was and outcast who wanted to make it big. And he did it all by himself while watching his enemies fall one by one until he became the most notorious drug dealer in Rio.
I think the most interesting part is how the community is linked. Everybody somehow seemed to have met each other in at least one part of their life time. A sort of like "Hey, i know you" or "Hey, have we met some where?" kind of interaction.
The actors really played their role well. Everybody jived perfectly well, i didn't see any flaws in their acting at all. And what they said about child actors being able to act brilliantly is indeed true. (remember Iranian Children of Heaven and French Ponnette?).
However, the film is not without violence, Portuguese profanities, drugs and gore. Yes, enough blood to paint Rio red, not quite like the La Tomatina Tomato Festival in Spain but close.
Overall, I'd rate this film a good 4/5! Definitely a good watch.
Recent Comments